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* -C.? > <5 

THE 


j CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK: 


CONTAINING 

SELECTIONS FROM THE WRITINGS 


OF 

DANIEL WEBSTER; 

«i 

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; 


THE CONSTITUTION OE THE UNITED STATES; 

AND 


WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 


WITH COPIOUS INDEXES. 


K, ‘Son/ 

V/v r OoV 


Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable^ 
One Country, One Constitution, One Destiny. 



StitaTo 


FOR THE HIGHER CLASSES OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, 
AND FOR HOME READING. 


NEW YORK AND BOSTON : 

C. S. FRANCIS AND COMPANY. 

1 854 . 








ET'3S r j - 
•8 


Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by 
LEMUEL BLAKE,_ 

In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 


\ 


STEREOTYPED AT THE 
BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. 




V 

% 










TO THE 


GOYE11NOR 

OP 

EACH STATE IN THE UNION 

COMPOSING THE 


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

€jjts UnlttitiB 

IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 

BY 

THE EDITOR. 








PEEP ACE. 


The presentation of the Constitutional Text 
Book to the People of the United States certain¬ 
ly needs no apology; for it contains the Funda¬ 
mental Laiv of our Country , with an Introduction 
selected from the writings of him who has justly 
been styled the Expounder and the Defender 
of the Constitution. 

In making the Selections from the Writings 
-of Mr. Webster, great care has been taken to 
select such parts as may be considered National , 
and which will tend to strengthen the opinions 
of the old, and to impress the young with a love 
of Country, a veneration for the Constitu¬ 
tion, A RESPECT FOR THE MEMORY OF THE GREAT 
AND GOOD MEN WHO FOUNDED OUR REPUBLIC AND 
WHO HAVE PASSED AWAY, A FERVENT ATTACHMENT 

to the Union, to Liberty, to Peace, to Order, 
and to Law ; and will also teach lessons of 
Wisdom, of Morality, and of Religion. 

When the work is used as a Class Book , the 
instructor will readily find in the Indexes sug¬ 
gestions for all the Questions necessary to be 
asked; and the Answers of the students should 
always be in the very words of the text. 

Boston, January 1, 1854. 

J * 


( 5 ) 



CONTENTS 


FAGS 

Dedication,.3 

Preface,. 5 

Death of Daniel Webster,.8 

Extract from the President’s Message,. 8 

Proceedings of the Senate of the United States, .... 9 

John Davis’s Eulogy on Daniel Webster, ..... 9 

Table of the Presidents of the United States, . . . .12 

Table of dates in which Mr. Webster was in Congress, . . 12 

First settlement of New England,.13 

Revolution in Greece,.32 «• 

Tribute of respect to the memory of Henry Clay and Daniel 

Webster,.32 

Bunker # Hill Monument,. 42 

Battle of Bunker Hill,.*58 

Adams and Jefferson,.60 

Revolutionary Officers,.94 

Boston Mechanic Institution,.98 

Speech on Foot’s Resolution,.108 

Last remarks on the same,.125 

Public Dinner at New York,.129 

Character of Washington,.145 

The Constitution not a Compact between sovereign States, . .157 

Reception at Buffalo, N. Y.,Nn 1833,. 178 

Reply to the Mechanics and Manufacturers,.180 

Reception at Pittsburg,.182 

The Presidential Protest,.196 

Appointing and Removing Power,.215 

Reception at Bangor, Me.,.221 

Presentation of a Vase,.228 

Slavery and the Slave Trade in the District of Columbia, . . 236 

The Louisville Canal,.240 

Protest against the Expunging Resolution,.245 

National Bank, petition for a,.251 

The Madison Papers, 254 


( 6 ) 






















CONTENTS. 


7 


Reception at Madison, Ind.,. 

The Currency,. 

Reply to Mr. Calhoun,. 

Completion of the Bunker Hill Monument,. 

The Christian Ministry, and the Religious instruction of the young, 

< Mr. Justice Story,. 

Southern Tour,. 

Reception at Charleston, S. C.,. 

Dinner of the New England Society,. 

Reception at Columbia, S. C., . 

Address of the Students of Carolina College, .... 

Mr. Webster’s reply,.. 

Reception at Savannah, Ga.,. 

Festival of the Sons of New Hampshire,. 

X Constitution and the Union, ....... 

The Compromise Measures, ........ 

Pilgrim Festival at New York,. 

Reception at Buffalo, N. Y., in 1851,. 

Speech to the Young Men of Albany,. 

Dinner at Albany, in the evening, . .'' v . 

Addition to the Capitol,. 

Letter to Messrs. John Haven and others, of Portsmouth, N.H., . 
Letter to Messrs. William Kinney and others, of Staunton, Va., 
Letter to the New York Committee for celebrating the birthday 

of Washington,. 

Proceedings in the Congress of the United Colonies respecting 

“A Declaration of Independence,”. 

Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of 
America, in Congress assembled, . . t . . 

Note respecting the Constitution, . . . 

Constitution of the United States of America, .... 
Articles in Addition to, and Amendment of, the Constitution, . 
Dates of the Adoption of the Constitution and of the Amendments, 

Secretary Buchanan’s Certificate,.• 

Secretary Webster’s Letter,. 

Washington’s Farewell Address,. 

Mr. Sparks’s Note,. 

Index to the Selections from Webster,. 

Index to the Constitution of the United States, .... 
Index to Washington’s Farewell Address, .... 


256 

262 

272 

280 

296 

311 

316 

316 

318 

322 

323 

323 

324 

328 

341 

361 

370 

379 

392 

405 

409 

426 

429 

432 

437 

438 

444 

44J> 

460 

463 

464 

464 

465 

482 

483 

493 

502 












DEATH OF DANIEL WEBSTER. 


“ Within a few weeks, the public mind has been deeply affected 
by the death of Daniel Webster, filling, at his decease, the 
office of Secretary of State. His associates in the Executive Gov¬ 
ernment have sincerely sympathized with his family, and the public 
generally, on this mournful occasion. His commanding talents, his 
great political and professional eminence, his well-tried patriotism, 
and his long and faithful services in the most important public 
trusts, have caused his death to be lamented throughout the coun¬ 
try and have earned for him a lasting place in our history.” 

[Extract from the President's Message. 

( 8 ) 




SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14 , 1852 . 

After various topics of the Message of the President had been re¬ 
ferred to the appropriate Committees, Mr. Davis * rose, and addressed 
the Senate as follows : — 

Mr. President : — I rise to bring to the notice of the Senate an 
event which has touched the sensibilities and awakened sympathies in 
all parts of the country — an event which has appropriately found a 
place in the message of the President, and ought not to be passed in 
silence by the Senate. Sir, we have, within a short space, mourned the 
death of a succession of men illustrious by their services, their talents, 
and worth. Not only have seats in this Chamber, in the other House, 
and upon the bench of the Court been vacated, but death has entered 
the Executive Mansion, and claimed that beloved patriot who filled the 
Chair of State. 

The portals of the tomb had scarcely closed upon the remains of a 
great and gifted member of this House, before they are again opened to 
receive another marked man of our day — one who stood out with a 
singular prominence before his countrymen, challenging, by his extraor¬ 
dinary intellectual power, the admiration of his fellow-men. 

Daniel Webster, (a name familiar in the remotest cabin upon the 
frdntier,) after mixing actively with the councils of his country for forty 
years, and having reached the limits of life assigned to mortals, has 
descended to the mansions of the dead, and the damp earth now rests 
upon his manly form. 

That magic voice, which was wont to fill this place with admiring 
listeners, is hushed in eternal silence. The multitude will no longer 
bend in breathless attention from the galleries to catch his words, and to 
watch the speaking eloquence of his countenance, animated by the 
fervor of his mind; nor will the Senate again be instructed by the out¬ 
pourings of his profound intellect, matured by long experience, and 
enriched by copious streams from the fountains of knowledge. The 
thread of life is cut; the immortal is separated from the mortal; and 
the products of a great and cultivated mind are all that remain to us 
of the jurist and legislator. 

Few men have attracted so large a share of public attention, or main¬ 
tained for so long a period an equal degree of mental distinction. In 
this and the other House there were rivals for fame, and he grappled in 


* John Davis, of Massachusetts. 


(9) 


10 


EULOGY OF JOHN DAVIS. 


debate with the master minds of the day, and achieved in such manly 
conflict the imperishable renown connected with his name. 

Upon most of the questions which have been agitated in Congress 
during his period of service, his voice was heard. Few orators have 
equalled him in a masterly power of condensation, or in that clear, logi¬ 
cal arrangement of proofs and arguments which secures the attention 
of the hearer, and holds it with unabated interest. 

These speeches have been preserved, and many of them will be read 
as forensic models, and will conlmand admiration for their great display 
of intellectual power and extensive research. This is not a suitable 
occasion to discuss the merits of political productions, or to compare 
them with the effusions of great contemporaneous minds, or to speak 
of the principles advocated. All this, belongs to the future, and history 
will assign each great name the measure of its enduring fame. 

Mr. Webster was conspicuous not only among the most illustrious 
men in the halls of legislation, but his fame shone with undiminished 
lustre in the judicial tribunals as an advocate, where he participated in 
many of the most important discussions. On the bench were Marshall, 
Story, and their brethren — men of patient research and comprehensive 
scope of intellect — who have left behind them, in our judicial annals, 
proofs of greatness which will secure pi'ofound veneration and respect 
for their names. At the bar stood Pinckney, Wirt, Emmett, and many 
others who adorned and gave exalted character to the profession. 
Amid these luminaries of the bar he discussed many of the great ques¬ 
tions raised in giving construction to organic law; and no one shone 
with more intense brightness, or brought into the conflict of mind more 
learning, higher proofs of severe mental discipline, or more copious 
illustration. 

Among such men, and in such honorable combat, the foundations of 
that critical knowledge of constitutional law, which afterward became a 
prominent feature of his character, and entered largely into his opinions 
as a legislator, were laid. 

The arguments made at this forum displayed a careful research into 
the history of the formation of the Federal Union, and an acute analy¬ 
sis of the fundamental provisions of the Constitution. 

Probably no man has penetrated deeper into the principles, or taken 
a more comprehensive and complete view of the Union of the States, 
than that great man, Chief Justice Marshall. No question was so subtle 
as to elude his grasp, or so complex as to defy his penetration. Even 
the great and the learned esteemed it no condescension to listen to the 
teachings of his voice; and no one profited more by his wisdom, or 
more venerated his character, than Mr. Webster. 

To stand among such men with marked distinction, as did Mr. Web¬ 
ster, is an association which might satisfy any ambition, whatever 



EULOGY OF JOHN DAVIS. 


11 


might be its aspirations. But there, among those illustrious men, who 
have finished their labors and gone to their final homes, he made his 
mark strong and deep, which will be seen and traced by posterity. 

But I need not dwell on that which is familiar to all readers who feel 
an interest in such topics; nor need I notice the details of his private 
life — since hundreds of pens have been employed in revealing all 
the facts, and in describing, in the most vivid manner, all the scenes 
which have been deemed attractive 5 nor need I reiterate the fervent 
language of eulogy which has been poured out in all quarters from the 
press, the pulpit, the bar, legislative bodies, and public assemblies — 
since his own productions constitute his best eulogy. 

I could not, if I were to attempt it, add any thing to the strength or 
beauty of the manifold evidences which have been exhibited of the 
length, the breadth, and height of his fame; nor is there any occasion 
for such proofs in the Senate — the place where his face was familiar, 
where many of his greatest efforts were made, and where his intellectual 
powers were appreciated. Here he was seen and heard, and nowhere 
else will his claim to great distinction be more cheerfully admitted. 

But the places which have known him will know him no more! 
His form will never rise hero again; his voice will not be heard, nor 
his expressive countenance seen. He is dead. In his last moments 
he was surrounded by his family and friends at his own home ; and, 
while consoled by their presence, his spirit took its flight to other re¬ 
gions. All that remained has been committed to its kindred earth. 

Divine Providence gives us illustrious men, but they, like others, 
when their mission is ended, yield to the inexorable law of our being, 
lie who gives also takes away, but never forsakes his faithful children. 

The places of those possessing uncommon gifts are vacated, the sod 
rests upon the once manly form, now as cold and lifeless as itself, and 
the living are filled with gloom and desolation. But the world rolls on; 
Nature loses none of its charms ; the sun rises with undiminished splen¬ 
dor ; the grass loses none of its freshness ; nor do the flowers cease to 
fill the air with fragrance. Nature, untouched by human woe, proclaims 
the immutable law of Providence, that decay follows growth, and that 
He who takes away never fails to give. 

Sir, I propose the following resolutions, believing that they will meet 
the cordial approbation of the Senate: 

Resolved , That the Senate has received with profound sensibility the 
annunciation from the President of the death of the late Secretary ot 
State, Daniel Webster, who was long a highly distinguished member 

of this body. , 

Resolved , That the Senate will manifest its respect for the memory ot 
the deceased, and its sympathy with his bereaved family, by wearing 

the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. 

Resolved , That these proceedings be communicated to the House ot 
Representatives. 


TABLE 


OF THE 

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 




Term. 

Time of Service. 

Years. 

Mos. 

Days, 

1. 

George Washington, 1 st & 2d. 

1789 to 1797, 

8 



2. 

John Adams, 

. 3d. 

1797 to 1801, 

4 



3. 

Thomas Jefferson, 

. 4th & 5th. 

1801 to 1809, 

8 



4. 

James Madison, . 

6 th & 7th. 

1809 to 1817, 

8 



5. 

James Monroe, 

. 8th & 9th. 

1817 to 1825, 

8 



6. 

John Quincy Adams, 

10 th. 

1825 to 1829, 

4 



7. 

Andrew Jackson, 

11 th & 12th. 

1829 to 1837, 

8 



8 . 

Martin Van Buren, 

. 13th. 

1837 to 1841, 

4 



9. 

William Henry Harrison, 14th. ) 

1841 to 1841, 


1 


10. 

John Tyler, 

. 14th. J 

1841 to 1845, 

3 

11 


11. 

James Knox Polk, 

15th. 

1845 to 1849, 

4 



12. 

Zachary Taylor, 

. 16th. 1 

1849 to 1850, 

1 

4 

5 

13. 

Millard Fillmore, . 

16th. ) 

1850 to 1853, 

2 

7 

26 

14. 

Franklin Pierce, 

. 

1853 to 





The following Table of the dates in ichich Mr. Webstei' was in Con¬ 
gress will be found convenient. 

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS. 


FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE. 


1813 

to 

1815. 

1815 

to 

1817. 

FROM MASSACHUSETTS. 

1823 

to 

1825. 

1825 

to 

1827. 

SENATOR 

IN 

CONGRESS. 

1827 

to 

1833. 

1833 

to 

1839. 

1839 

to 

1841, resigned February 22. 

1845 

to 

1850, resigned July 22. 


SECRETARY OF STATE TO THE UNITED STATES. 

1841 to 1843, resigned May 8. 

1850 to 1852, to decease, October 24. 

( 12 ) 








CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


SELECTIONS FROM THE WRITINGS 

OF 

DANIEL WEBSTER. 

ft 


FIRST SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND. 

Discourse delivered at Plymouth, on the 22 d of December, 1820. 

Let us rejoice that we behold this day. Let us be thank¬ 
ful that we have lived to see the bright and happy breaking 
of the auspicious morn, which commences the third century 
of the history of New England. Auspicious, indeed, — 
bringing a happiness beyond the common allotment of Prov¬ 
idence to men, — full of present joy, and gilding with bright 
beams the prospect of futurity, is the dawn that awakens us 
to the commemoration of the landing of the Pilgrims. 

Living at an epoch which naturally marks the progress of 
the history of our native land, we have come hither to cele¬ 
brate the great event with which that history commenced. 
For ever honored be this, the place of our fathers’ refuge ! 
For ever remembered the day which saw them, weary and 
distressed, broken in every thing but spirit, poor in all but 
faith and courage, at last secure from the dangers of wintry 
seas, and impressing this shore with the first footsteps of 
civilized man ! 

It is a noble faculty of our nature which enables us to 
connect our thoughts, our sympathies, and our happiness 
with what is distant in place or time; and, looking before 
and after, to hold communion at once with our ancestors 
and our posterity. Human and mortal although we are, we 
are nevertheless not mere insulated beings, without relation to 
the past or the future. Neither the point of time, nor the 
spot of earth, in which we physically live, bounds our ra- 
2 (13) 




* 


14 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 

tional and intellectual enjoyments. We live in the past by 
a knowledge of its history ; and in the future by hope and 
anticipation. By ascending to an association with our an¬ 
cestors ; by contemplating their example and studying their 
character ; by partaking their sentiments, and imbibing their 
spirit; by accompanying them in their toils, by sympathizing 
in their sufferings, and rejoicing in their successes and their 
triumphs; we seem to belong to their age, and to mingle our 
own existence with theirs. We become their contempora¬ 
ries, live the lives which they lived, endure what they en¬ 
dured, and partake in the rewards which they enjoyed. 
And in like manner, by running along the line of future 
time, by contemplating the probable fortunes of those who 
are coming after us, by attempting something which may 
promote their happiness, and leave some not dishonorable 
memorial of ourselves for their regard, when we shall sleep 
with the fathers, we protract our own earthly being, and 
seem to crowd whatever is future, as well as all that is past, 
into the narrow compass of our earthly existence. As it is 
not a vain and false, but an exalted and religious imasfina- 
tion, which leads us to raise our thoughts from the orb, 
which, amidst this universe of worlds, the Creator has given 
us to inhabit, and to send them with something of the feel¬ 
ing which nature prompts, and teaches to be proper among 
children of the same Eternal Parent, to the contemplation 
of the myriads of fellow-beings, with which his goodness 
has peopled the infinite of space; so neither is it false or 
vain to consider ourselves as interested and connected with 
our whole race, through all time ; allied to our ancestors ; 
allied to our posterity; closely compacted on all sides with 
others ; ourselves being but links in the great chain of be¬ 
ing, which begins with the origin of our race, runs onward 
through its successive generations, binding together the past, 
the present, and the future, and terminating at last, with the 
consummation of all things earthly, at the throne of God. 

There may be, and there often is, indeed, a regard for 
ancestry, which nourishes only a weak pride ; as there is 
also a care for posterity, which only disguises an habitual 
avarice, or hides the workings of a low and grovelling vanity. 



SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


15 


But there is also a moral and philosophical respect for our 
ancestors, which elevates the character and improves the 
heart. Next to the sense of religious duty and moral feel¬ 
ing, I hardly know what should bear with stronger obliga¬ 
tion on a liberal and enlightened mind, than a consciousness 
of alliance with excellence which is departed ; and a con¬ 
sciousness, too, that in its acts and conduct, and even in its 
sentiments and thoughts, it may be actively operating on the 
happiness of those who come after it. 

Standing in this relation to our ancestors and our posteri¬ 
ty, we are assembled on this memorable spot, to perform 
the duties which that relation and the present occasion im¬ 
pose upon us. We have come to this Rock, to record here 
our homage for our Pilgrim Fathers ; our sympathy in their 
sufferings; our gratitude for their labors; our admiration 
of their virtues ; our veneration for their piety; and our 
attachment to those principles of civil and religious liberty, 
which they encountered the dangers of the ocean, the storms 
of heaven, the violence of savages, disease, exile, and fam¬ 
ine, to enjoy and to establish. And we would leave here, 
also, for the generations which are rising up rapidly to fill 
our places, some proof that we have endeavored to transmit 
the great inheritance unimpaired; that in our estimate of 
public principles and private virtue, in our veneration of re¬ 
ligion and piety, in our devotion to civil and religious liberty, 
in our regard for whatever advances human knowledge or 
improves human happiness, we are not altogether unworthy 
of our origin. 

There is a local feeling connected with this occasion, too 
strong to be resisted ; a sort of genius of the place , which 
inspires and awes us. We feel that we are on the spot where 
the first scene of our history was laid ; where the hearths 
and altars of New England were first placed; where Chris¬ 
tianity, and civilization, and letters made their first lodg¬ 
ment, in a vast extent of country, covered with a wilderness, 
and.peopled by roving barbarians. We are here, at the season 
of the year at which the event took place. The imagina¬ 
tion irresistibly and rapidly draws around us the principal 
features and the leading characters in the original scene. 


16 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


We cast our eyes abroad on the ocean, and we see where 
the little bark, with the interesting group upon its deck, 
made its slow progress to the shore. We look around us, 
and behold the hills and promontories where the anxious 
eyes of our fathers first saw the places of habitation and of 
rest. We feel the cold which benumbed, and listen to the 
winds which pierced them. Beneath us is the Rock, on 
which New England received the feet of the Pilgrims. We 
seem even to behold them, as they struggle with the ele¬ 
ments, and, with toilsome efforts, gain the shore. We listen 
to the chiefs in council ; we see the unexampled exhibition 
of female fortitude and resignation ; we hear the whisperings 
of youthful impatience, and we see, what a painter of our 
own has also represented by his pencil, chilled and shivering 
childhood, houseless, but for a mother’s arms, couchless, but 
for a mother’s breast, till our own blood almost freezes. 

The settlement of New England by the colony which 
landed here . on the twenty-second of December, sixteen 
hundred and twenty, although not the first European estab¬ 
lishment in what now constitutes the United States, was yet 
so peculiar in its causes and character, and has been followed 
and must still be followed by such consequences, as to give 
it a high claim to lasting commemoration. On these causes 
and consequences, more than on its immediately attendant 
circumstances, its importance, as an historical event, depends. 

Of the motives which influenced the first settlers to a vol¬ 
untary exile, induced them to relinquish their native country, 
and to seek an asylum in this then unexplored wilderness, 
the first and principal, no doubt, were connected with reli¬ 
gion. They sought to enjoy a higher degree of religious 
freedom, and what they esteemed a purer form of religious 
worship, than was allowed to their choice, or presented to 
their imitation, in the Old World. The love of religious 
liberty is a stronger sentiment, when fully excited, than an 
attachment to civil or political freedom. That freedom 
which the conscience demands, and which men feel,bound 
by their hope of salvation to contend for, can hardly fail to 
be attained. Conscience, in the cause of religion and the 
worship of the Deity, prepares the mind to act and to suffer 






SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


17 


beyond almost all other causes. It sometimes gives an im¬ 
pulse so irresistible, that no fetters of power or of opinion 
can withstand it. History instructs us that this love of re¬ 
ligious liberty, a compound sentiment in the breast of man, 
made up of the clearest sense of right and the highest con¬ 
viction of duty, is able to look the sternest despotism in the 
face, and, with means apparently most 1 inadequate, to shake 
principalities and powers. There is a boldness, a spirit of 
daring, in religious reformers, not to be measured by the 
general rules which control men’s purposes and actions. If 
the hand of power be laid upon it, this only seems to aug¬ 
ment its force and its elasticity, and to cause its action to be 
more formidable and violent. Human invention has devised 
nothing, human power has compassed nothing, that can for¬ 
cibly restrain it, when it breaks forth. Nothing can stop 
it, but to give way to it; nothing can check it, but' indul¬ 
gence. It loses its power only when it has gained its 
object. The principle of toleration, to which the world 
has come so slowly, is at once the most just and the 
most wise of all principles. Even when religious feeling 
takes a character of extravagance and enthusiasm, and 
seems to threaten the order of society and shake the col¬ 
umns of the social edifice, its principal danger is in its re¬ 
straint. If it be allowed indulgence and expansion, like 
the elemental fires, it only agitates, and perhaps purifies, the 
atmosphere ; while its efforts to throw off restraint would 
burst the world asunder. 

The peculiar character, condition, and circumstances of 
the colonies which introduced civilization and an English 
race into New England, afford a most interesting and ex¬ 
tensive topic of discussion. On these, much of our subse¬ 
quent character and fortune has depended. Their influence 
has essentially affected our whole history, through the two 
centuries which have elapsed; and as they have become in^ 
timately connected with government, laws, and property, as 
well as with our opinions on the subjects of religion and 
civil liberty, that influence is likely to continue to be felt 
through the centuries which shall succeed. Emigration 
from one region to another, and the emission of colonies to 
2 * 


i 


18 


CONSTITUTIONAIj TEXT BOOK. 


people countries more or less distant from the residence of 
the parent stock, afe common incidents in the history of 
mankind ; but it has not often, perhaps never, happened, 
that the establishment of colonies should be attempted under 
circumstances, however beset with present difficulties and 
dangers, yet so favorable to ultimate success, and so condu¬ 
cive to magnificent results, as those which attended the first 
settlements on this part of the American continent. In 
other instances, emigration has proceeded from a less exalted 
purpose, in periods of less general intelligence, or more 
without plan and by accident ; or under circumstances, phys¬ 
ical and moral, less favorable to the expectation of laying 
* a foundation for great public prosperity and future empire. 

A great resemblance exists, obviously, between all the 
English colonies established within the present limits of the 
United States ; but the occasion attracts our attention more 
immediately to those which took possession of New Eng¬ 
land, and the peculiarities of these furnish a strong contrast 
with most other instances of colonization. 

Different, indeed, most widely different, from all other in¬ 
stances of emigration and plantation, were the condition, 
the purposes, and the prospects of our fathers, when they 
established their infant colony upon this spot. They came 
hither to a land from which they were never to return. 
Hither they had brought, and here they were to fix, their 
hopes, their attachments, and their objects in life. Some nat¬ 
ural tears they shed, as they left the pleasant abodes of their 
fathers, and some emotions they suppressed, when the white 
cliffs of their native country, now seen for the last time, 
grew dim to their sight. They were acting, however, fipon 
a resolution not to be daunted. With whatever stifled regrets, 
with whatever occasional hesitation, with whatever appalling 
apprehensions, which might sometimes arise with force to 
shake the firmest purpose, they had yet committed them¬ 
selves to Heaven and the elements; and a thousand leagues 
of water soon interposed to separate them forever from the 
region which gave them birth. A new existence awaited 
them here; and when they saw these shores, rough, cold, 
barbarous, and barren, as then they were, they beheld their 



SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


19 


country. That mixed and strong feeling, which we call 
love of country, and which is, in general, never extinguished 
in the heart of man, grasped and embraced its proper ob¬ 
ject here. Whatever constitutes country , except the earth 
and the sun, all the moral causes of affection and attachment 
which operate upon the heart, they had brought with them 
to their new abode. Here were now their families and 
friends, their homes, and their property. Before they 
reached the shore, they had established the elements of a 
social system, and at a much earlier period had settled their 
forms of religious worship. At the moment of their land¬ 
ing, therefore, they possessed institutions of government, 
and institutions of religion: and friends and families, and 
social and religious institutions, framed by consent, founded 
on choice and preference, how nearly do these fill up our 
whole idea of country ! The morning that beamed on the 
first night of their repose saw the Pilgrims already at home 
in their country. There were political institutions, and civil 
liberty, and religious worship. Poetry has fancied nothing, 
in the wanderings of heroes, so distinct and characteristic. 
Here was man, indeed, unprotected, and unprovided for, on 
the shore of a rude and fearful wilderness; but it was poli¬ 
tic, intelligent, and educated man. Every thing w r as civilized 
but the physical world. Institutions, containing in substance 
all that ages had done for human government, were organized 
in a forest. Cultivated mind was to act on uncultivated na¬ 
ture ; and, more than all, a government and a country were 
to commence, with the very first foundations laid under the 
divine light of the Christian religion. Happy auspices of a 
happy futurity ! Who would wish that his country’s exist¬ 
ence had otherwise begun ? Who would desire the power 
of going back to the ages of fable ? Who would wish for 
an origin obscured in the darkness of antiquity ? Who 
would wish for other emblazoning of his country’s heraldry, 
or other ornaments of her genealogy, than to be able to say, 
that her first existence was with intelligence, her first breath 
the inspiration of liberty, her first principle the truth of 
divine religion 1 

Local attachments and sympathies would ere long spring 


20 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


up in the breasts of our ancestors, endearing to them the 
place of their refuge. Whatever natural objects are asso 
ciated with interesting scenes and high efforts, obtain a hold 
on human feeling, and demand from the heart a sort of rec¬ 
ognition and regard. This Rock soon became hallowed 
in the esteem of the Pilgrims, and these hills grateful to 
their sight. Neither they nor their children were again to 
till the soil of England, nor again to traverse the seas which 
surround her. But here was a new sea, now open to their 
enterprise, and a new soil, which had not failed to respond 
gratefully to their laborious industry, and which was already 
assuming a robe of verdure. Hardly had they provided 
shelter for the living, ere they were summoned to erect 
sepulchres for the dead. The ground had become sacred, 
by enclosing the remains of some of their companions and 
connections. A parent, a child, a husband, or a wife, had 
gone the way of all flesh, and mingled with* the dust of 
New England. We naturally look with strong emotions 
to the spot, though it be a wilderness, where the ashes of 
those we have loved repose. Where the heart has laid 
down what it loved most, there it is desirous of laying it¬ 
self down. No sculptured marble, no enduring monument, 
no honorable inscription, no ever-burning taper that would 
drive away the darkness of the tomb, can soften our sense 
of the reality of death, and hallow to our feelings the 
ground which is to cover us, like the consciousness that we 
shall sleep, dust to dust, with the objects of our affections. 

In a short time other causes sprung up to bind the Pil¬ 
grims with new cords to their chosen land. Children were 
born, and the hopes of future generations arose, in the spot 
of their new habitation. The second generation found this 
the land of their nativity, and saw that they were bound to 
its fortunes. They beheld their fathers’ graves around them, 
and while they read the memorials of their toils and labors, 
they rejoiced in the inheritance which they found bequeathed 
to them. 

Under the influence of these causes, it was to be expected, 
that an interest and a feeling should arise here, entirely dif¬ 
ferent from the interest and feeling of mere Englishmen ; 






• Selections from webster. 


21 


and all the subsequent history of the Colonies proves this 
to have actually and gradually taken place. With a general 
acknowledgment of the supremacy of the British crown, 
there was, from the first, a repugnance to an entire submis¬ 
sion to the control of British legislation. The Colonies 
stood upon their charters, which, as they contended, ex¬ 
empted them from the ordinary power of the British Par¬ 
liament, and authorized them to conduct their own concerns 
by their own counsels. They utterly resisted the notion 
that they were to be ruled by the mere authority of the 
government at home, and would not endure even that their 
own charter governments should be established on the other 
side of the Atlantic. It was not a controlling or pro ecting 
board in England, but a government of their own, and 
existing immediately within their limits, which could satisfy 
their wishes. It was easy to foresee, what we know also to 
have happened, that the first great cause of collision and 
jealousy would be, under the notion of political economy 
then and still prevalent in Europe, an attempt on the part 
of the mother country to monopolize the trade of the Colo¬ 
nies. Whoever has looked deeply into the causes which 
produced our Revolution has found, if I mistake not, the 
original principle far back in this claim, on the part of Eng¬ 
land, to monopolize our trade, and a continued effort on the 
part of the Colonies to resist or evade that monopoly ; if, 
indeed, it be not still more just and philosophical to go far¬ 
ther back, and to consider it decided, that an independent 
government must arise here, the moment it was ascertained 
that an English colony, such as landed in this place, could 
sustain itself against the dangers which surrounded it, and, 
with other similar establishments, overspread the land with an 
English population. Accidental causes retarded at times, 
and at times accelerated, the progress of the controversy. 
The Colonies wanted strength, and time gave it to them. 
They required measures of strong and palpable injustice, 
on the part of the mother country, to justify resistance; the 
early part of the late king’s reign furnished them. They 
needed spirits of high order, of great daring, of long fore¬ 
sight, and of commanding power, to seize the favoring oc- 


22 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. ' 


casion to strike a blow, which should sever, for all time, the 
tie of colonial dependence; and these spirits were found, in 
all the extent which that or any crisis could demand, in Otis, 
Adams, Hancock, and the other immediate authors of our 
independence. 

When the first century closed, the progress of the coun¬ 
try appeared to have been considerable ; notwithstanding 
that, in comparison with its subsequent advancement, it now 
seems otherwise. A broad and lasting foundation had been 
laid ; excellent institutions had been established ; many of 
the prejudices of former times had been removed ; a more 
liberal and catholic spirit on subjects of religious concern 
had begun to extend itself, and many things conspired to 
give promise of increasing future prosperity. Great men 
had arisen in public life, and fhe liberal professions. The 
Mathers, father and son, were then sinking low in the west¬ 
ern horizon; Leverett, the learned, the accomplished, the 
excellent Leverett, was about to withdraw his brilliant and 
useful light. In Pemberton gr^at hopes had been suddenly 
extinguished, but Prince and Coleman were in our sky; 
and along the east had begun to flash the crepuscular light 
of a great luminary which was about to appear, and which 
was to stamp the age with his own name, as the age of 
Franklin. 

The second century opened upon New England under 
circumstances which evinced that much had already been 
accomplished, and that still better prospects and brighter 
hopes were before her. She had laid, deep and strong, the 
foundations of her society. Her religious principles were' 
firm, and her moral habits exemplary. Her public schools 
had begun to diffuse widely the elements of knowledge ; and 
the College, under the excellent and acceptable administra¬ 
tion of Leverett, had been raised to a high degree of credit 
and usefulness. 

The commercial character of the country, notwithstand¬ 
ing all discouragements, had begun to display itself, and Jive 
hundred vessels, then belonging to Massachusetts, placed her, 
in relation to commerce, thus early at the head of the Colo¬ 
nies. An author who wrote very near the close of the first 






SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


23 


century says: — “ New England is almost deserving that 
noble name , so mightily hath it increased ; and from a small 
settlement at first, is now become a very populous and flour¬ 
ishing government. The capital city , Boston, is a place of 
great wealth and trade ; and by much the largest of any in 
the English empire of America; and not exceeded but by 
few cities, perhaps two or three, in all the American world.” 

In New England the war of the Revolution commenced. 
I address those who remember the memorable 19th of April, 
1775; who shortly after saw the burning spires of Charles¬ 
town ; who beheld the deeds of Prescott, and heard the 
voice of Putnam amidst the storm of war, and saw the gen¬ 
erous Warren fall, the fi\'st distinguished victim in the cause 
of liberty. It would be superfluous to say, that no portion 
of the country did more than the States of New England 
to bring the Revolutionary struggle to a successful issue. 
It is scarcely less to her credit, that she saw early the ne¬ 
cessity of a closer union of the States, and gave an efficient 
and indispensable aid to the establishment and organization 
of the federal government. 

Internal improvement followed the establishment and pros¬ 
perous commencement of the present government. More 
has been done for roads, canals, and other public works, 
within the last thirty years, than in all our former history. 
In the first of these particulars, few countries excel the 
New England States. The astonishing increase of their 
navigation and trade is known to every one, and now be¬ 
longs to the history of our national wealth. 

We may flatter ourselves, too, that literature and taste 
have not been stationary, and that some advancement has 
been made in the elegant, as well as in the useful arts. 

The nature and constitution of society and government 
in this country are interesting topics, to which I would de¬ 
vote what remains of the time allowed to this occasion. Of 
our system of government the first thing to be said is, that 
it is really and practically a free system. It originates en¬ 
tirely with the people, and rests on no other foundation than 
their assent. To judge of its actual operation, it is not 
enough to look merely at the form of its construction. The 


24 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


practical character of government depends often on a variety 
of considerations, besides the abstract frame of its con¬ 
stitutional organization. Among these are the condition 
and tenure of property; the laws regulating its alienation 
and descent; the presence or absence of a military power; 
an armed or unarmed yeomanry ; the spirit of the age, and 
the degree of general intelligence. In these respects it can¬ 
not be denied that the circumstances of this country are 
most favorable to the hope of maintaining the government 
of a great nation on principles entirely popular. In the 
absence of military power, the nature of government must 
essentially depend on the manner in which property is holden 
and distributed. There is a natural influence belonging to 
property, whether X exists in many hands or few ; and it is 
on the rights of property that both despotism and unre¬ 
strained popular violence ordinarily commence their attacks. 
Our ancestors began their system of government here under * 
a condition of comparative equality in regard to wealth, and 
their early laws were of a nature to favor and continue this 
equality. 

A republican form of government rests not more on po¬ 
litical constitutions, than on those laws which regulate the 
descent and transmission of property. Governments like 
ours could not have been maintained, where property was 
holden according to the principles of the feudal system ; 
nor, on the other hand, could the feudal constitution possibly 
exist with us. Our New England ancestors brought hither no 
great capitals from Europe ; and if they had, there was noth¬ 
ing productive in which they could have been invested. They 
left behind them the whole feudal policy of the other conti¬ 
nent. They broke away at once from the system of military 
service established in the Dark Ages, and which continues, 
down even to the present time, more or less to affect the 
condition of property all over Europe. They came to a 
new country. There were, as yet, no lands yielding rent, 
and no tenants rendering service. The whole soil was unre¬ 
claimed from barbarism. They were themselves, either 
from their original condition, or from the necessity of their 
common interest, nearly on a general level in respect to 







SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 25 

property. Their situation demanded a parcelling out and 
division of the lands, and it may be fairly said, that this 
necessary act fixed the future frame and form of i heir govern¬ 
ment. The character of their political institutions was de¬ 
termined by the fundamental laws respecting property. 
The laws rendered estates divisible among sons and dau°;h- 
ters. The right of-primogeniture, at first limited and cur¬ 
tailed, was afterwards abolished. The property was all 
freehold. The entailment of estates, long trusts, and the 
other processes for fettering and tying up inheritances, were 
not applicable to the condition of society, and seldom made 
use of. On the contrary, alienation of the land was every 
way facilitated, even*to the subjecting of it to every species 
of debt. The establishment of public registries, and the 
simplicity of our- forms of conveyance, have greatly facili¬ 
tated the change of real estate from one proprietor to another. 
The consequence of all these causes has been, a great sub¬ 
division of the soil, and a great equality of condition ; the 
true basis, most certainly, of a popular government. “ If 
the people,” says Harrington, “ hold three parts in four of 
the territory, it is plain there can neither be any single per¬ 
son nor nobility able to dispute the government with them ; 
in this case, therefore, except force he interposed , they govern 
themselves.” 

Connected with this division of property, and the con¬ 
sequent participation of the great mass of people in its 
possession and enjoyments, is the system of representation, 
which is admirably accommodated to our condition, better 
understood among us, and more familiarly and extensively 
practised, in the higher and in the lower departments 
of government, than it has been by any other people. 
Great facility has been given to this in New England by*the 
early division of the country into townships or small dis¬ 
tricts, in which all concerns of local police are regulated, 
and in which representatives to the legislature are elected. 
Nothing can exceed the utility of these little bodies. They 
are so many councils or parliaments, in which common in¬ 
terests are discussed, and useful knowledge acquired and 
communicated. 


3 


26 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


1 must yet advert to another most interesting topic, — the 
Free Schools. In this particular, New England may be al¬ 
lowed to claim, I think, a merit of a peculiar character. She 
early adopted and has constantly maintained the principle, that 
it is the undoubted right and the bounden duty of government 
to provide for the instruction of all youth. That which is 
elsewhere left to chance or to charity, we secure by law. 
For the purpose of public instruction, we hold every man 
subject to taxation in proportion to his property, and we 
look not to the question, whether he himself have, or have 
not, children to be benefited by the education for which he 
pays. We regard it as a wise and liberal system of police, 
by which property, and life, and the peace of society are 
secured. We se^k to prevent in.some measure the exten¬ 
sion of the penal code, by inspiring a salutary and conserva¬ 
tive principle of virtue and of knowledge in an early age. 
We strive to excite a feeling of respectability, and a sense 
of character, by enlarging the capacity and increasing the 
sphere of intellectual enjoyment. By general instruction, 
we seek, as far as possible, to purify the whole moral atmos¬ 
phere ; to keep good sentiments uppermost, and to turn the 
strong current of feeling and opinion, as well as the cen¬ 
sures of the law and the denunciations of religion, against 
immorality and crime. We hope for a security beyond the 
law, and above the law, in the prevalence of an enlightened 
and well-principled moral sentiment. We hope to continue 
and prolong the time, when, in the villages and farm houses 
of New England, there may be undisturbed sleep within 
unbarred doors. And knowing that our government rests 
directly on the public will, in order that we may preserve it 
we endeavor to give a safe and proper direction to that public 
will* We do not, indeed, expect all men to be philosophers 
or statesmen ; but we confidently trust, and our expectation 
of the duration of our system of government rests on that 
trust, that, by the diffusion of general knowledge and good 
and virtuous sentiments, the political fabric may be secure, 
as well against open violence and overthrow, as against 
the slow, but sure, undermining of licentiousness. 

A conviction of the importance of public instruction was 




SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


27 


one of the earliest sentiments of our ancestors. No law¬ 
giver of ancient or modern times has expressed more just 
opinions, or adopted wiser measures, than the early records 
of the Colony of Plymouth show to have prevailed here. 
Assembled on this very spot, a hundred and fifty-three years 
ago, the legislature of this Colony declared, “ Forasmuch as 
the maintenance of good literature doth much tend to the ad¬ 
vancement of the weal and flourishing state of societies and 
republics, this Court doth therefore order, that in whatever 
township in this government, consisting of fifty families or 
upwards, any meet man shall be obtained to teach a gram¬ 
mar school, such township shall allow at least twelve pounds, 
to be raised by rate on all the inhabitants.’’ 

Having provided that all youth should be instructed in 
the elements of learning by the institution of free schools, 
our ancestors had yet another duty to perform. Men were 
to be educated for the professions and the public. For this 
purpose they founded the University, and with incredible 
zeal and perseverance they cherished and supported it, 
through all trials and discouragements. On the subject of 
the University, it is not possible for a son of New England 
to think without pleasure, or to speak without emotion. 
Nothing confers more honor on the State where it is estab¬ 
lished, or more utility on the country at large. A respect¬ 
able university is an establishment which must be the work 
of time. If pecuniary means were not wanting, no new in¬ 
stitution could possess character and respectability at once. 
We owe deep obligation to our ancestors, who began, almost 
on the moment of their arrival, the work of building up this 
institution. 

Lastly, our ancestors established their system of govern¬ 
ment on morality and religious sentiment. Moral habits, 
they believed, cannot safely be trusted on any other founda¬ 
tion than religious principle, nor any government be secure 
which is not supported by moral habits. Living under the 
heavenly light of revelation, they hoped to find all the social 
dispositions, all the duties which men ovye to each other and 
to society, enforced and performed. Whatever makes men 
good Christians, makes them good citizens. Our fathers 


28 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


came here to enjoy their religion free and unmolested ; and, 
at the end of two centuries, there is nothing upon which we 
can pronounce more confidently, nothing of which we can 
express a more deep and earnest conviction, than of the in¬ 
estimable importance of that religion to man, both in regard 
to this life and that which is to come. 

If the blessings of our political and social condition have 
not been too highly estimated, we cannot well overrate the 
responsibility and duty which they impose upon us. We 
hold these institutions of government, religion, aud learning, 
to be transmitted, as well as enjoyed. We are in the line 
of conveyance, through which whatever has been obtained 
by the spirit and efforts of our ancestors ‘is to be communi¬ 
cated to our children. 

We are . bound to maintain public liberty, and, by the 
example of our own systems, to convince the world that 
order and law, religion and morality, the rights of con¬ 
science, the rights of persons, and the rights of property, 
may all be preserved and secured, in the most perfect man¬ 
ner, by a government entirely and purely elective. If we fail 
in this, our disaster will be signal, and will furnish an argu¬ 
ment, stronger than has yet been found, in support of those 
opinions which maintain that government can rest safely on 
nothing but power and coercion. As far as experience may 
show errors in our establishments, we are bound to correct 
them ; and if any practices exist, contrary to the principles 
of justice and humanity within the reach of our laws or our 
influence, we are inexcusable if we do not exert ourselves 
to restrain and abolish them. . 

We are bound, not only to maintain the general princi¬ 
ples of public liberty, but to support also those existing 
forms of government which have so well secured its enjoy¬ 
ment, and so highly promoted the public prosperity. It is 
now more than thirty years that these States have been 
united under the Federal Constitution, and whatever fortune 
may await them hereafter, it is impossible that this period 
of their history should not be regarded as distinguished by 
signal prosperity and success. They must be sanguine in¬ 
deed, who can hope for benefit from change. Whatever 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


29 


division of the public judgment may have existed in relation 
to particular measures of the government, all must agree, 
one should think, in the opinion, that in its general course 
it has been eminently productive of public happiness. Its 
most ardent friends could not well have hoped from it more 
than it has accomplished; and those who disbelieved or 
doubted ought to feel less concerned about predictions which 
the event has not verified, than pleasure in the good which 
has been obtained. Whoever shall hereafter write this part 
of our history, although he may see occasional errors or 
defects, will be able to record no great failure in the ends 
and objects of government. Still less will he be able to 
record any series of lawless and despotic acts, or any suc¬ 
cessful usurpation. His page will contain no exhibition of 
provinces depopulated, of civil authority habitually tram¬ 
pled down by military power, or of a community crushed 
by the burden of taxation. He will speak, rather, of pub¬ 
lic liberty protected, and public happiness advanced; of 
increased revenue, and population augmented beyond all 
example; of the growth of commerce, manufactures, and 
the arts ; and of that happy condition, in which the restraint 
and coercion of government are almost invisible and imper¬ 
ceptible, and its influence felt only in the benefits which it 
confers. We can entertain no better wish for our country, 
than that this government may be preserved; nor have a 
clearer duty than to maintain and support it in the full ex¬ 
ercise of all its just constitutional powers. 

The cause of science and literature also imposes upon us 
an important and delicate trust. The wealth and popula¬ 
tion of the country are now so far advanced, as to authorize 
the expectation of a correct literature and a well-formed 
taste, as well as respectable progress in the abstruse sciences. 
The country has risen from a state of colonial subjection; 
it has established an independent government, and is now 
in the undisturbed enjoyment of peace and political security. 
The elements of knowledge are universally diffused, and 
the reading portion of the community is large. Let us 
hope that the present may be an auspicious era of litera¬ 
ture. If, almost on the day of their landing, our ancestors 

3* 


30 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


founded schools and endowed colleges, what obligations do 
not rest upon us, living under circumstances so much more 
favorable both for providing and for using the means of 
education 1 Literature becomes free institutions. It is the 
graceful ornament of civil liberty, and a happy restraint on 
the asperities which political controversies sometimes occa¬ 
sion. Just taste is not only an embellishment of society, 
but it rises almost to the rank of the virtues, and diffuses 
positive good throughout the whole extent of its influence. 
There is a connection between right feeling and right prin¬ 
ciples, and truth in taste is allied with truth in morality. 
With nothing in our past history to discourage us, and with 
something in our present condition and prospects to ani¬ 
mate us, let us hope, that, as it is our fortune to live in an 
age when we may behold a wonderful advancement of the 
country in all its other great interests, we may see also 
equal progress and success attend the cause of letters. 

Finally, let us not Jforget the religious character of our 
origin. Our fathers were brought hither by their high ven¬ 
eration for the Christian religion. They journeyed by its 
light, and labored in its hope. They sought to incorporate 
its principles with the elements of their society, and to dif¬ 
fuse its influence through all their institutions, civil, political, 
or literary. Let us cherish these sentiments, and extend 
this influence still more widely; in the full conviction, that 
that is the happiest society which partakes in the highest 
degree of the mild and peaceful spirit of Christianity. 

The hours of this day are rapidly flying, and this occa¬ 
sion will soon be passed. Neither we nor our children can 
expect to behold its return. They are in the distant regions 
of futurity, they exist only in the all-creating power of God, 
who shall stand here a hundred years hence, to trace, 
through us, their descent from the Pilgrims, and to survey, 
as we have now surveyed, the progress of their country, 
during the lapse of a century. We would anticipate their 
concurrence with us in our sentiments of deep regard for 
our common ancestors. We would anticipate and partake 
the pleasure with which they will then recount the steps 
of New England’s advancement. On the morning of that 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER, 


31 


day, although it will not disturb us in our repose, the voice 
of acclamation and gratitude, commencing on the Rock of 
Plymouth, shall be transmitted through millions of the sons 
of the Pilgrims, till it lose itself in the murmurs of the 
Pacific seas. 

We would leave for the consideration of those who shall 
then occupy our places, some proof that we hold the bless¬ 
ings transmitted from our fathers in .just estimation ; some 
proof of our attachment to the cause of good government, 
and of civil and religious liberty; some proof of a sincere 
and ardent desire to promote every thing which may en¬ 
large the understandings and improve the hearts of men. 
And when, from the long distance of a hundred years, they 
shall look back upon us, they shall know, at least, that we 
possessed affections, which, running backward and warming 
with gratitude for what our ancestors have done for our 
happiness, run forward also to our posterity, and meet them 
with cordial salutation, ere yet they have arrived on the 
shore of being. 

Advance, then, ye future generations ! We would hail 
you, as you rise in your long succession, to fill the places 
which we now fill, and to taste the blessings of existence 
where we are passing, and soon shall have passed, our own 
human duration. We bid you welcome to this pleasant 
land of the fathers. We bid you welcome to the healthful 
skies and the verdant fields of New England. We greet 
your accession to the great inheritance which we have en¬ 
joyed. We welcome you to the blessings of good govern¬ 
ment and religious liberty. We welcome you to the treas¬ 
ures of science and the delights of learning. We welcome 
you to the transcendent sweets of domestic life, to the hap¬ 
piness of kindred, and parents, and children. We welcome 
you to the immeasurable blessings of rational existence, the 
immortal hope of Christianity, and the light of everlasting 
truth! 


32 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


THE REVOLUTION IN GREECE.* 

Speech delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, on the 19<A 
of January, 1824. 

On the assembling of Congress, in December, 1823, President Mon¬ 
roe made the revolution in Greece the subject of a paragraph in his 
annual message, and on the 8th of December Mr. Webster moved the 
following resolution in the House of Representatives : — 

“ Resolved, That provision ought to be made, by law, for defraying 
the expense incident to the appointment of an Agent or Commissioner 
to Greece, whenever the President shall deem it expedient to make such 
appointment.” 


* Since this article was in type, we have met with the following trib¬ 
ute to the memory of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, delivered in the 
. Greek House of Representatives, December 17, 1852: — 

On this day’s session in the House of Representatives, Mr. Charmon- 
zies, Deputy of Lamia, having taken the floor, proposed that the House 
should express its regret on hearing of the death of two of the great 
men of the United States, namely, Henry Clay and Daniel Webster; 
and that their names be inscribed on the walls in the peribolus of the 
Chamber. 

The honorable Deputy introduced his proposition in the following 
address: — 

“ When the wise government of a great nation — a government wor¬ 
thy of respect for its virtues — goes into mourning, lamenting with its 
people the death of one of its citizens, that citizen truly must have been 
a great man. And the privation of a great man is an irreparable loss 
to all mankind. We took up arms to shake' off a heavy yoke — a yoke 
of reproach, and one difficult to be borne ; and the sanctity of our enter¬ 
prise immediately found protection in the other hemisphere, where, among 
many others, two truly distinguished men had effectually raised up their 
Christian voice in behalf of the grievously suffering Greeks. Who 
among us, the surviving combatants, has forgotten, or who among our 
youth has not heard from his parents, that, independently of the ravages 
of war, — famine and sickness were decimating us ? And who does not 
know that the bread and clothing of the Americans of the United States 
saved multitudes from the grasp of Charon ? And who doubts that, if 
the noble and generous-minded citizens of the United States had lived 
in our hemisphere, the Greek contest would have been terminated soon¬ 
er, and with more success % 

“ Gratitude, Sirs, is a cardinal virtue of man; and the Greek nation was 
ever of old distinguished for this virtue. Our immortal ancestors erected 
temples in honor of their benefactors. Among our benefactors, then, 
are numbered, since 1822, the ever-memorable Daniel Webster and 
Henry Clay, whose death a whole nation — the people of the United 
States — this day lament. Let us. therefore, honorable representatives 
of the Greek nation, unite our tears with those of our noble brothers, the 
citizens of the United States, for this loss ; and, as proof of our grati¬ 
tude, let us inscribe on the walls of this peribolus the glorious names of 
the Philhellenes Daniel Webster and Henry Clay.” 



SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


33 


These, it is believed, are the first official expressions favorable to the 
independence of Greece, uttered by any of the governments of Christen¬ 
dom, and no doubt contributed powerfully towards the creation of that 
feeling throughout the civilized world which eventually led to the battle 
of Navarino, and the liberation of a portion of Greece from the Turkish 
yoke. 

The House of Representatives having, on the 19th of January, re¬ 
solved itself into a committee of the whole, and this resolution being 
taken into consideration, Mr. Webster spoke to the following effect: — 

I AM afraid, Mr. Chairman, that, so far as my part in this 
discussion is concerned, those expectations which the public 
excitement existing on the subject, and certain associations 
easily suggested by it, have conspired to raise, may be dis¬ 
appointed. An occasion which calls the attention to a spot 
so distinguished, so connected with interesting recollections, 
as Greece, may naturally create something of warmth and 
enthusiasm. In a grave, political discussion, however, it is 
necessary that those feelings should be chastised. I shall 
endeavor properly to repress them, although it is impossible 
that they should be altogether extinguished. We must, in¬ 
deed, fly beyond the civilized w'orld ; we must pass the do¬ 
minion of law and the boundaries of knowledge ; we must, 
more especially, withdraw ourselves from this place, and the 
scenes and objects which here surround us, — if we would sep¬ 
arate ourselves entirely from the influence of all those memori¬ 
als of herself which ancient Greece has transmitted for the ad¬ 
miration and the benefit of mankind. This free form of 
government, this popular assembly, the common council held 
for the common good, — where have we contemplated its 
earliest models? This practice of free debate and public 
discussion, the contest of mind with mind, and that popular 
eloquence, which, if it were now here, on a subject like this, 
would move the stones of the Capitol, — whose was the lan¬ 
guage in which all these were first exhibited ? Even the 
edifice in which we assemble, these proportioned columns, 
this ornamented architecture, all remind us that Greece has 
existed, and that we, like the rest of mankind, are greatly 
her debtors. 

But I have not introduced this motion in the vain hope 


34 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


of discharging any thing of this accumulated debt of cen¬ 
turies. I have not acted upon the expectation, that we, who 
have inherited this obligation from our ancestors, should 
now attempt to pay it to those who may seem to have inherited 
from their ancestors a right to receive payment. My object 
is nearer and more immediate. I wish to take occasion of 
the struggle of an interesting and gallant people, in the 
cause of liberty and Christianity, to draw the attention of 
the House to the circumstances which have accompanied 
that struggle, and to the principles which appear to have 
governed the conduct of the great states of Europe in re¬ 
gard to it; and to the effects and consequences of these 
principles upon the independence of nations, and especially 
upon the institutions of free governments. What I have to 
say of Greece, therefore, concerns the modern, not the an¬ 
cient ; the living, and not the dead. It regards her, not as 
she exists in history, triumphant over time, and tyranny, and 
ignorance ; but as she now is, contending, against fearful 
odds, for being, and for the common privileges -of human 
nature. 

As it is never difficult to recite commonplace remarks and 
trite aphorisms, so it may be easy, I am aware, on this oc¬ 
casion, to remind me of the wisdom which dictates to men 
a care of their own affairs, and admonishes them, instead 
of searching for adventures abroad, to leave other men’s 
concerns in their own hands. It may be easy to call this 
resolution Quixotic, the emanation of a crusading or propa¬ 
gandist spirit. All this, and more, may be readily said ; but 
all this, and more, will not be allowed to fix a character 
upoq this proceeding, until that is proved which it takes for 
granted. Let it first be shown, that in this question there is 
nothing which can affect the interest, the character, or the 
duty of this country. Let it be proved, that we are not 
called upon, by either of these considerations, to express an 
opinion on the subject to which the resolution relates. Let 
this be proved, and then it will indeed be made out, that 
neither ought this resolution to pass, nor ought the sub¬ 
ject of it to have been mentioned in the communication of 
the President to us. But, in my opinion, this cannot be 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


35 


shown. In my judgment, the subject is interesting to the 
people and the government of this country, and we are 
called upon, by considerations of great weight and moment, 
to express our opinions upon it. These considerations, I 
think, spring from a sense of our own duty, our character, and 
our own interest. 1 wish to treat the subject on such grounds, 
exclusively, as are truly American ; but then, in considering 
it as an American question, I cannot forget the age in which 
we live, the prevailing spirit of the age, the interesting ques¬ 
tions which agitate it, and our own peculiar relation in 
regard to these interesting questions. Let this be, then, 
and as far as I am concerned I hope it will be, purely an 
American discussion ; but let it embrace, nevertheless, every 
thing that fairly concerns America. Let it comprehend, not 
merely her present advantage, but her permanent interest, 
her elevated character as one of the free states of the world, 
and her duty towards those great principles which have hith¬ 
erto maintained the relative independence of nations, and 
which have, more especially, made her what she is. 

At the commencement of the session, the President, in 
the discharge of the high duties of his office, called our 
attention to the subject to which this resolution refers. “ A 
strong hope,” says that communication, “has been long en¬ 
tertained, founded on the heroic struggle of the Greeks, that 
they would succeed in their contest, and resume their equal 
station among the nations of the earth. It is believed that 
the whole civilized world takes a deep interest in their wel¬ 
fare. Although no power has declared in their favor, yet 
none, according to our information, has taken part against 
them. Their cause and their name have protected them 
from dangers which might ere this have overwhelmed any 
other people. The ordinary calculations of interest, and of 
acquisition with a view to aggrandizement, which mingle so 
much in the transactions of nations, seem to have had no effect 
in regard to them. From the facts which have come to our 
knowledge, there is good cause to believe that their enemy 
has lost for ever all dominion over them ; that Greece will 
become again an independent nation.” 

It has appeared to me that the House should adopt some 


36 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


resolution reciprocating these sentiments, so far as it shall 
approve them. More than twenty years have elapsed since 
Congress first ceased to receive such a communication from 
the President as could properly be made the subject of a 
general answer. I do not mean to find fault with this re¬ 
linquishment of a former and an ancient practice. It may 
have been attended with inconveniences which justified its 
abolition. But, certainly, there was one advantage belong¬ 
ing to it; and that is, that it furnished a fit opportunity for 
the expression of the opinion of the houses of Congress 
upon those topics in the executive communication which 
were not expected to be made the immediate subjects of di¬ 
rect legislation. Since, therefore, the President’s message 
does not now receive a general ^nswer, it has seemed to me 
to be proper that, in some mode, agreeable to our own 
usual form of proceeding, we should express our sentiments 
upon the important and interesting topics on which it treats. 

If the sentiments of the message in respect to Greece be 
proper, it is equally proper that this House should recipro¬ 
cate those sentiments. The present resolution is designed 
to have that extent, and no more. If it pass, it will leave 
any future proceeding where it now is, in the discretion of 
the executive government. It is but an expression, under 
those forms in which the House is accustomed to act, of 
the satisfaction of the House with the general sentiments 
expressed in regard to this subject in the message, and of 
its readiness to defray the expense incident to any inquiry 
for the purpose of further information, or any other agency 
which the President, in his discretion, shall see fit, in what¬ 
ever manner and at whatever time, to institute. The whole 
matter is still left in his judgment, and this resolution can 
in no way restrain its unlimited exercise. 

I might well, Mr. Chairman, avoid the responsibility of 
this measure, if it had, in my judgment, any tendency to 
change the policy of the country. With the general course 
of that policy I am quite satisfied. The nation is prosper¬ 
ous, peaceful, and happy; and I should very reluctantly put 
its peace, prosperity, or happiness at risk. It appears to 
me, however, that this resolution is strictly conformable to 




SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


37 


our general policy, and not only consistent with our interests, 
but even demanded by a large and liberal view of those interests. 

It is certainly true that the just policy of this country is, 
in the first place, a peaceful policy. No nation ever had 
less to expect from forcible aggrandizement. The mighty 
agents which are working out our greatness are time, indus¬ 
try, and the arts. Our augmentation is by growth, not by ac¬ 
quisition ; by internal development, not by external accession. 
No schemes can be suggested to us so magnificent as the 
prospects which a sober contemplation of our own condition, 
unaided by projects, uninfluenced by ambition, fairly spreads 
before us. A country of such vast extent, with such varieties 
of soil and climate, with so much public spirit and private 
enterprise, with a population increasing so much beyond 
former example, with capacities of improvement not only 
unapplied or unexhausted, but even, in a great measure, 
as yet unexplored, — so free in its institutions, so mild in 
its laws, so secure in the title it confers on every man to 
his own acquisitions, —"needs nothing but time and peace to 
carry it forward to almost any point of advancement. 

In the next place, I take it for granted that the policy of 
this country, springing from the nature of our government 
and the spirit of all our institutions, is, so far as it respects 
the interesting questions which agitate the present age, on 
the side of liberal and enlightened sentiments. The age is 
extraordinary; the spirit that actuates it is peculiar and 
marked; and our own relation to the times we live in, and 
to the questions which interest them, is equally marked and 
peculiar. We are placed, by our good fortune and the wis¬ 
dom and valor of our ancestors, in a condition in which we 
can act no obscure part. He it for honor, or be it for dis¬ 
honor, whatever we do is sure to attract the observation of 
the world. As one of the free states among the nations, as 
a great and rapidly rising republic, it would be impossible 
for us, if we were so disposed, to prevent our principles, our 
sentiments, and our example from producing some effect 
upon the opinions and hopes of society throughout the civil¬ 
ized world. It rests probably with ourselves to determine 
whether the influence of these shall be salutary or pernicious. 
4 


38 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


Sir, the Greeks have done much. It would be great injustice 
to compare their achievements with our own. We began 
our Revolution, already possessed of government, and, com¬ 
paratively, of civil liberty. Our ancestors had from the first 
been accustomed in a great measure to govern themselves. 
They were familiar with popular elections and legislative 
assemblies, and well acquainted with the general principles 
and practice of free governments. They had little else to 
do than to throw off the paramount authority of the parent 
state. Enough was still left, both of law and of organiza¬ 
tion, to conduct society in its accustomed course, and to unite 
men together for a common object. The Greeks, of course, 
could act wtih little concert at the beginning; they were un¬ 
accustomed to the exercise of power, without experience, 
with limited knowledge, without aid, and surrounded by na¬ 
tions which, whatever claims the Greeks might seem to have 
upon them, have afforded them nothing but discouragement 
and reproach. They have held out, however, for three 
campaigns; and that, at least, is something. Constantino¬ 
ple and the northern provinces have sent forth thousands of 
troops ; — they have been defeated. Tripoli, and Algiers, 
and Egypt, have contributed their marine contingents ; — 
they have not kept the ocean. Hordes of Tartars have 
crossed the Bosphorus ; — they have died where the Per¬ 
sians died. The powerful monarchies in the neighborhood 
have denounced their cause, and admonished them to aban¬ 
don it and submit to their fate. They have answered them, 
that, although two hundred thousand of their countrymen 
have offered up their lives, there yet remain lives to 6ffer ; 
and that it is the determination of all , “ yes, of all,” to per¬ 
severe until they shall have established their liberty, or until 
the power of their oppressors shall have relieved them from 
the burden of existence. 

It may now be asked, perhaps, whether the expression of 
our own sympathy, and that of the country, may do them 
good 1 I hope it may. It may give them courage and 
spirit, it may assure them of public regard, teach them that 
they are not wholly forgotten by the civilized world, and 
inspire them with constancy in the pursuit of their great end. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


39 


At any rate, sir, it appears to me that the measure which I 
have proposed is due to our own character, and called for 
by our own duty. When we shall have discharged that duty, 
we may leave the rest to the disposition of Providence. 

I do not see how it can be doubted that this measure is 
entirely pacific. I profess my inability to perceive that it 
has any possible tendency to involve our neutral relations. 
If the resolution pass, it is not of necessity to be immediately 
acted on. It will not be acted on at all, unless, in the opin¬ 
ion of the President, a proper and safe occasion for acting 
upon it shall arise. If we adopt the resolution to-day, our 
relations with every foreign state will be to-morrow precise¬ 
ly what they now are. The resolution will be sufficient to 
express our sentiments on the subjects to which I have ad¬ 
verted. Useful for that purpose, it can be mischievous for 
no purpose. If the topic were properly introduced into the 
message, it cannot be improperly introduced into discussion 
in this House. If it were proper, which no one doubts, for 
the President to express his opinions upon it, it cannot, I 
think, be improper for us to express ours. The only certain 
effect of this resolution is to signify, in a form usual in bodies 
constituted like this, our approbation of the general sentiment 
of the message. Do we wish to withhold that approbation 1 
The resolution confers on the President no new power, nor 
does it enjoin on him the exercise of any new duty ; nor 
does it hasten him in the discharge of any existing duty. 

I cannot imagine that this resolution can add any thing 
to those excitements which it has been supposed, I think 
very causelessly, might possibly provoke the Turkish gov¬ 
ernment to acts of hostility. There is already the message, 
expressing the hope of success to the Greeks and disaster 
to the Turks, in a much stronger manner than is to be im¬ 
plied from the terms of this resolution. There is the cor¬ 
respondence between the Secretary of State and the Greek 
Agent in London, already made public, in which similar 
wishes are expressed, and a continuance of the correspond¬ 
ence apparently invited. I might add to this, the unex¬ 
ampled burst of feeling which this cause has called forth 
from all classes of society, and the notorious fact of pecu- 


40 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


niary contributions made throughout the country for its aid 
and advancement. After all this, whoever can see cause 
of danger to our pacific relations from the adoption of this res¬ 
olution has a keener vision than I can pretend to. Sir, there 
is no augmented danger ; there is no danger. The ques¬ 
tion comes at last to this, whether, on a subject of this sort, 
this House holds an opinion which is worthy to be expressed. 

Even suppose, Sir, an agent or commissioner were to be 
immediately sent, — a measure which I myself believe to be 
the proper one, — there is no breach of neutrality, nor any 
just cause of offence. Such an agent, of course, would not 
be accredited ; he would not be a public minister. The ob¬ 
ject would be inquiry and information ; inquiry which we 
have a right to make, information which we are interested 
to possess. If a dismemberment of the Turkish empire be 
taking place, or has already taken place ; if a new state be 
rising, or be already risen, in the Mediterranean, — who can 
doubt, that, without any breach of neutrality, we {nay inform 
ourselves of these events for the government of our own 
concerns 1 The Greeks have declared the Turkish coasts 
in a state of blockade ; may we not inform ourselves whether 
this blockade be nominal or real 1 and, of course, whether 
it shall be regarded or disregarded 1 The greater our trade 
may happen to be with Smyrna, a consideration which seems 
to have alarmed some gentlemen, the greater is the reason, 
in my opinion, why we should seek to be accurately informed 
of those events which may affect its safety. It seems to me 
impossible, therefore, for any reasonable man to inlagine 
that this resolution can expose us to the resentment of the 
Sublime Porte. 

As little reason is there for fearing its consequences upon 
the conduct of the Allied Powers. They may, very natu¬ 
rally, dislike our sentiments upon the subject of the Greek 
revolution ; but what those sentiments are they will much 
more explicitly learn in the President’s message than in this 
resolution. They might, indeed, prefer that we should ex¬ 
press no dissent from the doctrines which they have avowed, 
and the application which they have made of those doctrines 
to the case of Greece. But I trust we are not disposed 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


41 


to leave them in any doubt as to our sentiments upon these 
important subjects. They have expressed their opinions, 
and do not call that expression of opinion an interference; 
in which respect they are right, as the expression of opin¬ 
ion in such cases is not such an interference as would justify 
the Greeks in considering the powers at war with them. 
For the same reason, any expression which we may make 
of different principles and different sympathies is no interfer¬ 
ence. No one would call the President’s message an inter¬ 
ference ; and yet it is much stronger in that respect than 
this resolution. If either of them could be construed to be 
an interference, no doubt it would be improper, at least it 
would be so according to my view of the subject; for the 
very thing which I have attempted to resist in the course 
of these observations is the right of foreign interference. 
But neither the message nor the resolution has that charac¬ 
ter. There is not a power in Europe which can suppose, 
that, in expressing our opinions on this occasion, we are 
governed by any desire of aggrandizing ourselves or of in¬ 
juring others. We do no more than to maintain those es¬ 
tablished principles in which we have an interest in common 
with other nations, and to resist the introduction of new 
principles and new rules, calculated to destroy the relative 
independence of states, and particularly hostile to the whole 
fabric of our government. 

I close, then, Sir, with repeating, that the object of this 
resolution is. to avail ourselves of the interesting occasion 
of the Greek revolution to make our protest against the 
doctrines of the Allied Powers, both as they are laid down 
in principle and as they are applied in practice.- I think it 
right, too, Sir, not to be unseasonable in the expression of 
our regard, and, as far as that goes, in a manifestation of 
our sympathy with a long oppressed and now struggling 
oeople. I am not of those who would, in the hour of ut¬ 
most peril, withhold such encouragement as might be prop¬ 
erly and lawfully given, and, when the crisis should be past, 
overwhelm the rescued sufferer with kindness and caresses. 
The Greeks address the civilized world with a pathos not 
;asy to be resisted. They invoke our favor by more 
4* 


42 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


moving considerations than can well belong to the condition 
of any othev people. They stretch out their arms to the 
Christian communities of the earth, beseeching them, by a 
generous recollection of their ancestors, by the consideration 
of their desolated and ruined cities and villages, by their 
wives and children sold into an accursed slavery, by their 
blood, which they seem willing to pour out like water, by 
the common faith, and in the name, which unites all Chris¬ 
tians, that they would extend to them at least some token of 
compassionate regard. 

-♦- 

THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. 

Address delivered at the Laying of the Comer Stone of the Bunker Hill Monument at 
Charlestown, Massachusetts, on the 17 th of June, 1825. 

This uncounted multitude before me and around me 
proves the feeling which the occasion has excited. These 
thousands of human faces, glowing with sympathy and joy, 
and from the impulses of a common gratitude turned rever¬ 
ently to heaven in this spacious temple of the firmament, 
proclaim that the day, the place, and the purpose of our as¬ 
sembling have made a deep impression on our hearts. 

If, indeed, there be any thing in local association fit to 
affect the mind of man, we need not strive to repress the 
emotions which agitate us here. We are among the sepul¬ 
chres of our fathers. We are on ground distinguished by 
their valor, their constancy, and the shedding of their blood. 
We are here, not to fix an uncertain date in our annals, 
nor to draw into notice an obscure and unknown spot. If 
our humble purpose had never been conceived, if we our¬ 
selves had never been born, the 17th of June, 1775, would 
have been a day on which all subsequent history would have 
poured its light, and the eminence where we stand a point 
of attraction to the eyes of successive generations. But we 
are Americans. We live in what may be called the early 
age of this great continent; and we know that our posterity, 
through all time, are here to enjoy and suffer the allotments 
of humanity. We*see before us a probable train of great 
events; we know that our own fortunes have been happily 



SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


43 


cast; and it is natural, therefore, that we should be moved 
by the contemplation of occurrences which have guided our 
destiny before any of us were born, and settled the condition 
in which we should pass that portion of our existence which 
God allows to men on earth. 

We do not read even of the discovery of this continent, 
without feeling something of a personal interest in the event; 
without being reminded how much it has affected our own 
fortunes and our own existence. It would be still more un¬ 
natural for us, therefore, than for others, to contemplate with 
unaffected minds that interesting, I may say that most touch¬ 
ing and pathetic scene, when the great discoverer of America 
stood on the deck of his shattered bark, the shades of night 
falling on the sea, yet no man sleeping ; tossed on the bil¬ 
lows of an unknown ocean, yet the stronger billows of alter¬ 
nate hope and despair tossing his own troubled thoughts ; 
extending forward his harassed frame, straining westward 
his anxious and eager eyes, till Heaven at last granted him 
a moment of rapture and ecstasy, in blessing his vision with 
the sight of the unknown world. 

Nearer to our times, more closely connected with our 
fates, and therefore still more interesting to our feelings and 
affections, is the settlement of our own country by colonists 
from England. We cherish every memorial of these wor¬ 
thy ancestors; we celebrate their patience and fortitude; we 
admire their daring enterprise; we teach our children to 
venerate their piety ; and we are justly proud of being de¬ 
scended from men who have set the world an example of 
founding civil institutions on the great and united principles 
of human freedom and human knowledge. To us, their 
children, the story of their labors and sufferings can never 
be without its interest. We shall not stand unmoved on 
the shore of Plymouth, while the sea continues to wash it; 
nor will our brethren in another early and ancient Colony 
forget the place of its first establishment, till their river shall 
cease to flow by it. No vigor of youth, no maturity of 
manhood, will lead the nation to forget the spots where its 
infancy was cradled and defended. 

But the great event in the history of the continent, which 


44 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


we are now met here to commemorate, that prodigy of 
modern times, at once the wonder and the blessing of the 
world, is the American Revolution. In a day of extraordi¬ 
nary prosperity and happiness, of high national honor, dis¬ 
tinction, and power, we are brought together, in this place, 
by our love of country, by our admiration of exalted charac¬ 
ter, by our gratiude for signal services and patriotic devotion. 

The Society whose organ I am was formed for the purpose 
of rearing some honorable and durable monument to the 
memory of the early friends of American Independence. 
They have thought, that for this object no time could be more 
propitious than the present prosperous and peaceful period ; 
that no place could claim preference over this memorable 
spot; and that no day could be more auspicious to the un¬ 
dertaking, than the anniversary of the battle which was here 
fought. The foundation of that monument we have now 
laid. With solemnities suited to the occasion, with prayers 
to Almighty God for his blessing, and in the midst of this 
cloud of witnesses, we have begun the work. We trust it 
will be prosecuted, and that, springing from a broad founda¬ 
tion, rising high in massive solidity and unadorned grandeur, 
it may remain as long as Heaven permits the works of man 
to last, a fit emblem, both of the events in memory of which 
it is raised, and of the gratitude of those who have reared it. 

We know, indeed, that the record of illustrious actions is 
most safely deposited in the universal remembrance of man¬ 
kind. We know, that if we could cause this structure to 
ascend, not only till it reached the skies, but till it pierced 
them, its broad surfaces could still contain but part of that 
which, in an age of knowledge, hath already been spread 
over the earth, and which history charges itself with making 
known to all future times. We know that no inscription 
on entablatures less broad than the earth itself can carry in¬ 
formation of the events we commemorate where it has not 
already gone; and that no structure, w hich shall not out¬ 
live the duration of letters and knowledge among men, can 
prolong the memorial. But our object is, by this edifice, 
to show our own deep sense of the value and importance 
of the achievements of our ancestors; and, by presenting 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


45 


this work of gratitude to the eye, to keep alive similar sen¬ 
timents, and to foster a constant regard for the principles 
of the Revolution. Human beings are composed, not of 
reason only, but of imagination also, and sentiment; and 
that is neither wasted nor misappl’ed which is appropriated 
to the purpose of giving right direction to sentiments, and 
opening proper springs of feeling in the heart. Let it not 
be supposed that our object is to perpetuate national hos¬ 
tility, or even to cherish a mere military spirit. It is higher, 
purer, nobler. We consecrate our work to the spirit of 
national independence, and we wish that the light of peace 
may rest upon it for ever. We rear a memorial of our con¬ 
viction of that unmeasured benefit which has been conferred 
on our own land, and of the happy influences which have 
been produced, by the same events, on the general interests 
of mankind. We come, as Americans, to mark a spot 
which must for ever be dear to us and our posterity. We 
wish that whosoever, in all coming time, shall turn his eye 
hither, may behold that the place is not undistinguished 
where the first great battle of the Revolution was fought. 
We wish that this structure may proclaim the magnitude 
and importance of that event to every class and every age. 
We wish that infancy may learn the purpose of its erection 
from maternal lips, and that weary and withered age may 
behold it, and be solaced by the recollections which it sug¬ 
gests. We wish that labor may look up here, and be proud, 
in the midst of its toil. We wish that, in those days of 
disaster, which, as they come upon all nations, must be ex¬ 
pected to come upon us also, desponding patriotism may 
turn its eyes hitherward, and be assured that the foundations 
of our national power are still strong. We wish that this 
column, rising towards heaven among the pointed spires of 
so many temples dedicated to God, may contribute also to 
produce, in all minds, a pious feeling of dependence and 
gratitude. We wish, finally, that the last object to the sight 
of him who leaves his native shore, and the first to gladden 
his who revisits it, may be something which shall remind 
him of the liberty and the glory of his country. Let it rise ! 
let it rise, till it meet the sun in his coming; let the earliest 


46 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


light of the morning gild it, and parting day linger and play 
on its summit. 

We live in a most extraordinary age. Events so various 
and so important that they might crowd and distinguish 
centuries, are, in our times, compressed within the compass 
of a single life. When has it happened that history has had 
so much to record, in the same term of years, as since the 
17th of June, 1775? Our own Revolution, which, under 
other circumstances, might itself have been expected to 
occasion a war of half a century, has been achieved; 
twenty-four sovereign and independent States erected ; and 
a general government established over them, so safe, so 
wise, so free, so practical, that we might well wonder its 
establishment should have been accomplished so soon, were it 
not far the greater wonder that it should have been established 
at all. Two or three millions of people have been aug¬ 
mented to twelve, the great forests of the West prostrated 
beneath the arm of successful industry, and the dwellers on 
the banks of the Ohio and the Mississippi become the 
fellow-citizens and neighbors of those who cultivate the hills 
of New England.* We have a commerce that leaves no 
sea unexplored; navies, which take no law from superior 
force; revenues, adequate to all the exigencies of govern¬ 
ment, almost without taxation ; and peace with all nations, 
founded on equal rights and mutual respect. 

Europe, within the same period, has been agitated by a 
mighty revolution, which, while it has been felt in the indi¬ 
vidual condition and happiness of almost every man, has 
shaken to the centre her political fabric, and dashed against 
one another thrones which had stood tranquil for ages. On 
this, our continent, our own example has been followed, and 
colonies have sprung up to be nations. Unaccustomed 
sounds of liberty and free government have reached us from 
beyond the track of the sun ; and at this moment the do¬ 
minion of European power in this continent, from the place 
where we stand to the south pole, is annihilated for ever. 


* That which was spoken of figuratively in 182-3 has, in the lapse of a 
quarter of a century, by the introduction of railroads and telegraphic lines, 
become a reality, it is an interesting circumstance, that the first railroad 
on the Western Continent was constructed for the purpose of accelerating 
the erection of this monument. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


47 


In the mean time, both in Europe and America, such has 
been the general progress of knowledge, such the improve¬ 
ment in legislation, in commerce, in the arts, in letters, and, 
above all, in liberal ideas and the general spirit of the age, 
that the whole world seems changed. 

Yet notwithstanding that this is but a faint abstract of the 
things which have happened since the day of the battle of 
Bunker Hill, we are but fifty years removed from it; and 
we now stand here to enjoy all the blessings of our own 
condition, and to look abroad on the brightened prospects 
of the world, while we still have among us some of those 
who were active agents in the scenes of 1775, and who are 
now here, from every quarter of New England, to visit once 
more, and under circumstances so affecting, I had almost 
said so overwhelming, this renowned theatre of their cour¬ 
age and patriotism. 

Venerable men ! you have come down to us from a 
former generation. Ileaven has bounteously lengthened 
out your lives, that you might behold this joyous day. You 
are now where you stood fifty years ago, this very hour, 
with your brothers and your neighbors, shoulder to shoul¬ 
der, in the strife for your country. Behold, how altered ! 
The same heavens are indeed over your heads ; the same 
ocean rolls at your feet; but all else how changed ! You 
hear now no roar of hostile cannon, you see no mixed vol¬ 
umes of smoke and flame rising from burning Charlestown. 
The ground strewed with the dead and the dying ; the im¬ 
petuous charge ; the steady and successful repulse ; the loud 
call to repeated assault; the summoning of all that is manly 
to repeated resistance ; a thousand bosoms freely and fear¬ 
lessly bared in an instant to whatever of terror there may 
be in war and death ; — all these you have witnessed, but 
you witness them no more. All is peace. The heights of 
yonder metropolis, its towers and roofs, which you then saw 
filled with wives and children and countrymen in distress 
and terror, and looking with unutterable emotions for the 
issue of the combat, have presented you to-day with the 
sight of its whole happy population, come out to welcome 
and greet you with a universal jubilee. Yonder proud ships, 


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by a felicity of position appropriately lying at the foot of 
this mount, and seeming fondly to cling around it, are not 
means of annoyance to you, but your country’s own means 
of distinction and defence. All is peace; and God has 
granted you this sight of your country’s happiness, ere you 
slumber in the grave. He has allowed you to behold and 
to partake the reward of your patriotic toils; and he has 
allowed us, your sons and countrymen, to meet you here, 
and in the name of the present generation, in the name of 
your country, in the name of liberty, to thank you ! 

But, alas! you are not all here ! Time and the sword 
have thinned your ranks. Prescott, Putnam, Stark, Brooks, 
Read, Pomeroy, Bridge ! our eyes seek for you in vain 
amid this broken band. You are gathered to your fathers, 
and live only to your country in her grateful remembrance 
and your own bright example. But let us not too much 
grieve, that you have met the common fate of men. You 
lived at least long enough to know that your work had been 
nobly and successfully accomplished. You lived to see your 
country’s independence established, and to sheathe your 
swords from war. On the light of Liberty you saw arise 
the light of Peace, like 

“ another morn, 

Risen on midnoon ; ” 

and the sky on which you closed your eyes was cloudless. 

But ah! Him! the first great martyr in this great cause ! 
Him ! the premature victim of his own self-devoting heart! 
Him ! the head of our civil councils, and the destined leader 
of our military bands, whom nothing brought hither but the 
unquenchable fire of his own spirit ! Him ! cut off by Provi¬ 
dence in the hour of overwhelming anxiety and thick gloom; 
falling ere he saw the star of his country rise ; pouring out 
his generous blood like water, before he knew whether it 
would fertilize a land of freedom or of bondage ! — how 
shall I struggle with the emotions that stifle the utterance 
of thy name ! Our poor work may perish ; but thine shall 
endure ! This monument may moulder away; the solid 
ground it rests upon may sink down to a level with the sea; 


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49 


but thy memory shall not fail! Wheresoever among men 
a heart shall be found that beats to the transports of patri¬ 
otism and liberty, its aspirations shall be to claim kindred 
with thy spirit! 

But the scene amidst which we stand does not permit us 
to confine our thoughts or our sympathies to those fearless 
spirits who hazarded or lost their lives on this consecrated 
spot. We have the happiness to rejoice here in the pres¬ 
ence of a most worthy representation of the survivors of the 
whole Revolutionary army. 

Veterans ! you are the remnant of many a well-fought 
field. You bring with you marks of honor from Trenton 
and Monmouth, from Yorktown, Camden, Bennington, and 
Saratoga. Veterans of half a century ! when in your 
youthful days you put every thing at hazard in your coun¬ 
try’s cause, good as that cause was, and sanguine as youth 
is, still your fondest hopes did not stretch onward to an hour 
like this ! At a period to which you could not reasonably 
have expected to arrive, at a moment of national prosperity 
such as you could never have foreseen, you are now met 
here to enjoy the fellowship of old soldiers, and to receive 
the overflowings of a universal gratitude. 

But your agitated countenances and your heaving breasts 
inform me that even this is not ail unmixed joy. I perceive 
that a tumult of contending feelings rushes upon you. The 
images of the dead, as well as the persons of the living, 
present themselves before you. The scene overwhelms you, 
and I turn from it. May the Father of all mercies smile 
upon your declining years, and bless them ! And when you 
shall here have exchanged your embraces, when you shall 
once more have pressed the hands which have been so often 
extended to give succor in adversity, or grasped in the ex¬ 
ultation of victory, then look abroad upon this lovely land 
which your young valor defended, and mark the happiness 
with which it is filled; yea, look abroad upon the whole 
earth, and see what a name you have contributed to give to 
your country, and what a praise you have added to freedom, 
and then rejoice in the sympathy and gratitude which beam 

5 


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upon your last days from the improved condition of man¬ 
kind ! 

The occasion does not require of me any particular ac¬ 
count of the battle of the 17th of 'June, 1775, nor any de¬ 
tailed narrative of the events which immediately preceded it. 
These are familiarly known to all. In the progress of the 
great and interesting controversy, Massachusetts and the 
town of Boston had become early and marked objects of 
the displeasure of the British Parliament. This had been 
manifested in the act for altering the government of the 
Province, and in that for shutting up the port of Boston. 
Nothing sheds more honor on our early history, and nothing 
better shows how little the feelings and sentiments of the 
Colonies were known or regarded in England, than the im¬ 
pression which these measures every where produced in 
America. It had been anticipated, that while the Colonies 
in general would be terrified by the severity of the punish¬ 
ment inflicted on Massachusetts, the other seaports would 
be governed by a mere spirit of gain ; and that, as Boston 
was now cut off from all commerce; the unexpected advan¬ 
tage which this blow on her was calculated to confer on 
other towns would be* greedily enjoyed. How miserably 
such reasoners deceived themselves ! How little they knew 
of the depth, and the strength, and the intenseness of that 
feeling of resistance to illegal acts of power, which pos¬ 
sessed the whole American people ! Every where the un¬ 
worthy boon was rejected with scorn. The fortunate occa¬ 
sion was seized, every where, to show to the whole world 
that the Colonies were swayed by no local interest, no par¬ 
tial interest, no selfish interest. The temptation to profit 
by the punishment of Boston was strongest to our neighbors 
of Salem. Yet Salem was precisely the place where this 
miserable proffer was spurned, in a tone of the most lofty 
self-respect and the most indignant patriotism. “ We are 
deeply affected,” said its inhabitants, “with the sense of our 
public calamities ; but the miseries that are now rapidly 
hastening on our brethren in the ca’pital of the Province 
greatly excite our commiseration. By shutting up the port 
of Boston, some imagine that the course of trade might be 



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51 


turned hither, and to our benefit; but we must be dead to 
every idea of justice, lost to all feelings of humanity, could 
we indulge the* thought to seize on wealth and raise our 
fortunes on the ruin of our suffering neighbors.” These 
noble sentiments were not confined to our immediate vicin¬ 
ity. In that day of general affection and brotherhood, the 
blow given to Boston smote on every patriotic heart from 
one end of the country to the other. 

The 17th of June saw the four New England Colonies 
standing here, side by side, to triumph or to fall together ; 
and there was with them from that moment to the end of 
the war, what I hope will remain with them for ever, one 
cause, one country, one heart. 

The battle of Bunker Hill was attended with the most 
important effects beyond its immediate results as a military 
engagement. It created at once a state of open, public 
war. There could now be no longer a question of proceed¬ 
ing against individuals, as guilty of treason or rebellion. 
That fearful crisis was past. The appeal lay to the sword, 
and the only question was, whether the spirit and the re¬ 
sources of the people would hold out till the object should 
be accomplished. Nor were its general consequences con¬ 
fined to our own country. The previous proceedings of 
the Colonies, their appeals, resolutions, and addresses, had 
made their cause known to Europe. Without boasting, 
we may say, that in no age or country has the public cause 
been maintained with more force of argument, more power 
of illustration, or more of that persuasion which excited 
feeling and elevated principle can alone bestow, than the 
Revolutionary state papers exhibit. These papers will for 
ever deserve to be studied, not only for the spirit which they 
breathe, but for the ability with which they were written. 

To this able vindication of their cause, the Colonies had 
now added a practical and severe proof of their own true 
devotion to it, and given evidence also of the power which 
they could bring to its support. All now saw, that if 
America fell, she would not fall without a struggle. Men 
felt sympathy and regard, as well as surprise, when they 
beheld these infant states, remote, unknown, unaided, en- 


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counter the power of England, and in the first considerable 
battle, leave more of their enemies dead on the field, in 
proportion to the number of combatants, than had been re¬ 
cently known to fall in the wars of Europe. 

Information of these events, circulating throughout the 
world, at length reached tl# ears of one who now hears me.* 
He has not forgotten the emotion which the fame of Bunker 
Hill, and the name of Warren excited in his youthful breast. 

Sir, we are assembled to commemorate the establishment 
of great public principles of liberty, and to do honor to the 
distinguished dead. The occasion is too severe for eulogy 
of the living. But, Sir, your interesting relation to this 
country, the peculiar circumstances which surround you and 
surround us, call on me to express the happiness which we 
derive from your presence and aid in this solemn com¬ 
memoration. 

Fortunate, fortunate man ! with what measure of devo¬ 
tion will you not thank God for the circumstances of your 
extraordinary life ! You are connected with both hemi- 
speres and with two generations. Heaven saw fit to ordain, 
that the electric spark of liberty should be conducted, 
through you, from the New World to the Old; and we, 
who are now here to perform this duty of patriotism, have 
all of us long ago received it in charge from our fathers to 
cherish your name and your virtues. You will account it 
an instance of your good fortune, Sir, that you crossed the 
seas to visit us at a time which enables you to be present at 
this solemnity. You now behold the field, the renown of 
which reached you in the heart of France, and caused a 
thrill in your ardent bosom. You see the lines of the little 
redoubt thrown up by the incredible diligence of Prescott; 
defended, to the last extremity, by his lion-hearted valor; 
and within which the corner stone of our monument has 
taken its position. You see where Warren fell, and where 
Parker, Gardner, McCleary, Moore, and other early patriots 
fell with him. Those who survived that day, and whose 

* Among the earliest of the arrangements for the celebration of the 17th 
of June, 1825, was the invitation to General Lafayette to be present; and he 
had so timed his progress through the other States as to return to Massa¬ 
chusetts in season for the great occasion. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


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lives have been prolonged to the present hour, are now 
around you. . Some of them you have known in the trying 
scenes of the war. Behold! they now stretch forth their 
feeble arms to embrace you. Behold! they raise their 
trembling voices to invoke the blessiug of God on you and 
yours for ever. 

Sir, you have assisted us in laying the foundation of this 
structure. You have heard us rehearse, with our feeble 
commendation, the names »f departed patriots. Monuments 
and eulogy belong to the dead. We give them this day to 
Warren and his associates. On other occasions they have 
been given to your more immediate companions in arms, to 
Washington, to Greene, to Gates, to Sullivan, and to Lin¬ 
coln. We have become reluctant to grant these, our high¬ 
est and last honors, further. We would gladly hold them 
yet back from the little remnant of that immortal band. 
Serus in ccelum redeas. Illustrious as are your merits, yet 
far, O, very far distant be the day, when any inscription 
shall bear your name, or any tongue pronounce its eulogy! 

The leading reflection to which this occasion seems to 
invite us, respects the great changes which have happened 
in the fifty years since the, battle of Bunker Hill was fought. 
And it peculiarly marks the character of the present age, 
that, in looking at these changes, and estimating their effect 
on our condition, we are obliged to consider, not what has 
been done in our own country only, but in others also. In 
these interesting times, while nations are making separate 
and individual advances in improvement, they make, too, a 
common progress ; like vessels on a common tide, propelled 
by the gales at different rates, according to their several 
structure and management, but all moved forward by one 
mighty current, strong enough to bear onward whatever 
does not sink beneath it. 

A chief distinction of the present day is a community of 
opinions and knowledge amongst men in different nations, 
existing in a degree heretofore unknown. Knowledge has, 
in our time, triumphed, and is triumphing, over distance, 
over difference of languages, over diversity of habits, over 
prejudice, and over bigotry. The civilized and Christian 


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world is fast learning the great lesson, that difference of 
nation does not imply necessary hostility, and that all con¬ 
tact need not be war. The whole world is becoming a 
common field for intellect to act in. Energy of mind, gen¬ 
ius, power, wheresoever it exists, may speak out in any 
tongue, and the world will hear it. A great chord of senti¬ 
ment and feeling runs through two continents, and vibrates 
over both. Every breeze wafts intelligence from country 
to country; every wave rolls it; ^tll give it forth, and all in 
turn receive it. There is a vast commerce of ideas; there 
are marts and exchanges for intellectual discoveries, and a 
wonderful fellowship of those individual intelligences which 
make up the mind and opinion of the age. Mind is the 
great lever of all things; human thought is the process by 
which human ends are ultimately answered ; and the diffu¬ 
sion of knowledge, so astonishing in the last half century, 
has rendered innumerable minds, variously gifted by nature* 
competent to be competitors or fellow-workers on the thea¬ 
tre of intellectual operation. 

From these causes important improvements have taken 
place in the personal condition of individuals. Generally 
speaking, mankind are not only better fed and better clothed, 
but they are able also to enjoy more leisure; they possess 
more refinement and more self-respect. A superior tone 
of education, manners, and habits prevails. This remark, 
most true in its application to our own country, is also 
partly true when applied elsewhere. It is proved by the 
vastly augmented consumption of those articles of manufac¬ 
ture and of commerce which contribute to the comforts and 
decencies of life; an augmentation which has far outrun the 
progress of population. And while the unexampled and al¬ 
most incredible use of machinery would seem to supply the 
place of labor, labor still finds its occupation and its reward ; 
so wisely has Providence adjusted men’s wants and desires 
to their condition and their capacity. 

Any adequate survey, however, of the progress made 
during the last half century in the polite and the mechanic 
arts, in machinery and manufactures, in commerce and ag¬ 
riculture, in letters and in science, would require volumes. 



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I must abstain wholly from these subjects, and turn for a 
moment to the contemplation of what has been done on the 
great question of politics and government. This is the 
master topic of the age ; and during the whole fifty years 
it has intensely occupied the thoughts of men. The nature 
of civil government, its ends and uses, have been canvassed 
and investigated ; ancient opinions attacked and defended; 
new ideas recommended and resisted, by whatever power 
the mind of man could bring to the controversy. From the 
closet and the public halls the debate has been transferred 
to the field ; and the world has been shaken by wars of 
unexampled magnitude, and the greatest variety of fortune. 
A day of peace has at length succeeded ; and now that the 
strife has subsided, and the smoke cleared away, we may 
begin to see what has actually been done, permanently 
changing the state and condition of human society. And, 
without dwelling on particular circumstances, it is most 
apparent, that, from the before-mentioned causes of aug¬ 
mented knowledge and improved individual condition, a 
real, substantial, and important change has taken place, and 
is taking place, highly favorable, on the whole, to human 
liberty and human happiness. 

The great wheel of political revolution began to move in 
America. Here its rotation was guarded, regular, and safe. 
Transferred to the other continent, from unfortunate but 
natural causes, it received an irregular and violent impulse; 
it whirled along with a fearful celerity; till at length, like 
the chariot wheels in the races of antiquity, it took fire from 
the rapidity of its own motion, and blazed onward, spread¬ 
ing conflagration and terror around. 

We learn from the result of this experiment, how for¬ 
tunate was our own condition, and how admirably the char¬ 
acter of our people was calculated for setting the great ex¬ 
ample of popular governments. The possession of power 
did not turn the heads of the American people, for they had 
long been in the habit of exercising a great degree of self- 
control. Although the paramount authority of the parent 
state existed over them, yet a large field of legislation had 
always been open to our Colonial assemblies. They were 


56 


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accustomed to representative bodies and forms of free gov¬ 
ernment ; they understood the doctrine of the division of 
power among different branches, and the necessity of checks 
on each. The character of our countrymen, moreover, was 
sober, moral, and religious; and there was little in the 
change to shock their feelings of justice and humanity, or 
even to disturb an honest prejudice. We had no domestic 
throne to overturn, no privileged orders to cast down, no 
violent changes of property to encounter. In the American 
Revolution, no man sought or wished for more than to de¬ 
fend and enjoy his own. None hoped for plunder or for 
spoil. Rapacity was unknown to it; the axe was not 
among the instruments of its accomplishment; and we all 
know that it could not have lived a single day under any 
well-founded imputation of possessing a tendency adverse 
to the Christian religion. 

And, now, let us indulge an honest exultation in the con¬ 
viction of the benefit which the example of our country has 
produced, and is likely to produce, on human freedom and 
human happiness. Let us endeavor to comprehend in all 
its magnitude, and to feel in all its importance, the part as¬ 
signed to us in the great drama of human affairs. We are 
placed at the head of the system of representative and popular 
governments. Thus far our example shows that such gov¬ 
ernments are compatible, not only with respectability and 
power, but with repose, with peace, with security of person¬ 
al rights, with good laws, and a just administration. 

We are not propagandists. Wherever other systems are 
preferred, either as being thought better in themselves, or as 
better suited to existing condition, we leave the preference 
to be enjoyed. Our history hitherto proves, however, that 
the popular form is practicable, and that with wisdom and 
knowledge men may govern themselves; and the duty in¬ 
cumbent on us is, to preserve the consistency of this cheer¬ 
ing example, and take care that nothing may weaken its 
authority with the world. If, in our case, the representa¬ 
tive system ultimately fail, popular governments must be 
pronounced impossible. No combination of circumstances 
more favorable to the experiment can ever be expected to 



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occur. The last hopes of mankind, therefore, rest with us ; 
and if it should be proclaimed, that our example had be¬ 
come an argument against the experiment, the knell of 
popular liberty would be sounded throughout the earth. 

These are excitements to duty ; but they are not sugges¬ 
tions of doubt. Our history and our condition, all that is 
gone before us, and all that surrounds us, authorize the be¬ 
lief, that popular governments, though subject to occasional 
variation, in form perhaps not always for the better, may 
yet, in their general character, be as durable and permanent 
as other systems. We know, indeed, that in our country 
any other is impossible. The principle of free governments 
adheres to the American soil. It is bedded in it, immova¬ 
ble as its mountains. 

And let the sacred obligations which have devolved on this 
generation, and on us, sink deep into our hearts. Those 
who established our liberty and our government a#e daily 
dropping from among us. The great trust now descends to 
new hands. Let us apply ourselves to that which is present¬ 
ed to us, as our appropriate object. We can win no laurels 
in a war for independence. Earlier and worthier hands 
have gathered them all. Nor are there places for us by the 
side of Solon, and Alfred, and other founders of states. 
Our fathers have filled them. But there remains to us a 
great duty of defence and preservation ; and there is opened 
to us, also, a noble pursuit, to which the spirit of the times 
strongly invites us. Our proper business is improvement. 
Let our age be the age of improvement. In a day of peace, 
let us advance the arts of peace and the works of peace. 
Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its pow¬ 
ers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, 
and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may 
not perform something worthy to be remembered. Let us 
cultivate a true spirit of union and harmony. In pursuing 
the great objects which our condition points out to us, let 
us act under a settled conviction, and an habitual feeling, 
that these twenty-four States are one country. Let our con¬ 
ceptions be enlarged to the circle of our duties. Let us ex¬ 
tend our ideas over the whole of the vast field in which we 


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are called to act. Let our object be, our country, our 
WHOLE COUNTRY, AND NOTHING BUT OUR COUNTRY. And, 
by the blessing of God, may that country itself become a 
vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror, 
but of Wisdom, of Peace, and of Liberty, upon which the 
world may gaze with admiration for ever ! 


THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 

Reflections upon the Battle of Bunker Hill, contributed to the North American 
Review, vol. vii. 

No national drama was ever developed in a more inter¬ 
esting and splendid first scene. The incidents and the 
result of the battle itself were most important, and indeed 
most wonderful. As a mere battle, few surpass it in what¬ 
ever engages and interests the attention. It was fought on 
a conspicuous eminence, in the immediate neighborhood of 
a populous city, and consequently in the view of thousands 
of spectators. The attacking army moved over a sheet of 
water to the assault. The operations and movements were 
of course all visible and all distinct. Those who looked on 
from the houses and heights of Boston had a fuller view of 
every important operation and event than can ordinarily be 
had of any battle, or than can possibly be had of such as 
are fought on a more extended ground, or by detachments 
of troops acting in different places, and at different times, 
and in some measure independently of each other. When 
the British columns were advancing to the attack, the flames 
of Charlestown (fired, as is generally supposed, by a shell) 
began to ascend. The spectators, far outnumbering both 
armies, thronged and crowded on every height and every 
point which afforded a view of the scene, themselves con¬ 
stituted a very important part of it. 

The troops of the two armies seemed like so many com¬ 
batants in an amphitheatte. The manner in which they 
should acquit themselves was to be judged of, not, as in 
other cases of military engagements, by reports and future 
history, but by a vast and anxious assembly already on the 




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spot, and waiting with unspeakable concern and emotion the 
progress of the day. 

In other battles the recollection of wives and children has 
been used as an excitement to animate the warrior’s breast 
and nerve his arm. Here was not a mere recollection, but 
an actual presence of them, and other dear connections, hang¬ 
ing on the skirts of the battle, anxious and agitated, febling 
almost as if wounded themselves by every blow of the 
enemy, and putting forth, as it were, their own strength, 
and all the energy of their own throbbing bosoms, into every 
gallant effort of their warring friends. 

But there was a more comprehensive and vastly more im¬ 
portant view of that day’s contest than has been mentioned 
— a view, indeed, which ordinary eyes, bent intently on 
what was immediately before them, did not embrace, but 
which was perceived in its full extent and expansion by 
minds of a higher order. Those men who were at the head 
of the colonial councils, who had been engaged for years in 
the previous stages of the quarrel with England, and who 
had been accustomed to look forward to the future, were 
well apprised of the magnitude of the events likely to hang 
on the business of that day. They saw in it not only a 
battle, but the beginning of a civil war of unmeasured ex¬ 
tent and uncertain issue. All America and all England 
were likely to be deeply concerned in the consequences. 
The individuals themselves, who knew full well what agency 
they had in bringing affairs to this crisis, had need of all 
their courage — not that disregard of personal safety in 
which the vulgar suppose true courage to consist, but that 
high and fixed moral sentiment, that steady and decided 
purpose, which enables men to pursue a distant end, with a 
full view of the difficulties and dangers before them, and 
with a conviction that, before they must arrive at the pro¬ 
posed end, should they ever reach it, they must pass through 
evil report as well as good report, and be liable to obloquy 
as well as to defeat. 

Spirits that fear nothing else, fear disgrace ; and this 
danger is necessarily encountered by those who, engage in 
civil war. Unsuccessful resistance is not only ruin to its 


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authors, but is esteemed, and necessarily so, by the laws of 
all countries, treasonable. This is the case, at least, till re¬ 
sistance becomes so general and formidable as to assume the 
form of regular war. But who can tell, when resistance 
commences, whether it will attain even to that degree 
of success 1 Some of those persons who signed the Dec¬ 
laration of Independence, in 1776, described themselves as 
signing it “ as with halters about their necks.” If there 
were grounds for this remark in 1776, when the cause had 
become so much more general, how much greater was the 
hazard when the battle of Bunker Hill was fought! 

These considerations constituted, to enlarged and liberal 
minds, the moral sublimity of the occasion, while to the out¬ 
ward senses, the movement of armies, the roar of artillery, 
the brilliancy of the reflection of a summer’s sun from the 
burnished armor of the British columns, and the flames of a 
burning town, made up a scene of extraordinary grandeur. 


ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 

Discourse in Commemoration of the Lives and Services of John Adams and Thomas 
Jefferson, delivered in Faneuil Hall, on the 2 d of August, 1826, at the Request of the 
Municipal Authorities of Boston. 

This is an unaccustomed spectacle. For the first time, 
fellow-citizens, badges of mourning shroud the columns and 
overhang the arches of this hall. These walls, which were 
consecrated, so long ago, to the cause of American liberty, 
which witnessed her infant struggles, and rung with the 
shouts of her earliest victories, proclaim, now, that distin¬ 
guished friends and champions of that great cause have 
fallen. It is right that it should be thus. The tears which 
flow, and the honors that are paid, when the founders of the 
republic die, give hope that the republic itself may be im¬ 
mortal. It is fit that, by public assembly and solemn obser¬ 
vance, by anthem and by eulogy, we commemorate the 
services of* national benefactors, extol their virtues, and 
render thanks to God for eminent blessings, early given 


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61 


and long continued, through their agency, to our favored 
country. 

ADAMS and JEFFERSON are no more ; and we are 
assembled, fellow-citizens, the aged, the middle-aged, and 
the young, by the spontaneous impulse of all, under the 
authority of the municipal government, with-the presence 
of the chief magistrate of the Commonwealth, and others 
its official representatives, the University, and the learned 
societies, to bear our part in those manifestations of respect 
and gratitude which pervade the whole land. Adams and 
Jefferson are no more. On our fiftieth anniversary, the 
great day of national jubilee, in the very hour of public 
rejoicing, in the midst of echoing and reechoing voices of 
thanksgiving, while their own names were on all tongues, 
they took their flight together to the world of spirits. 

If it bq&true that no one can safely be pronounced happy 
while he lives, if that event which terminates life can alone 
crown its honors and its glory, what felicity is here! The 
great epic of their lives, how happily concluded! Poetry 
itself has hardly terminated illustrious lives, and finished the 
career of earthly renown, by such a consummation. If we 
had the pow$r, we could not wish to reverse this dispensation 
of the Divine Providence. The great objects of life were 
accomplished, the drama was ready to be closed. It has 
closed ; our patriots have fallen; but so fallen, at such age, 
with such coincidence, on such a day, that we cannot ration¬ 
ally lament that that end has come, which we knew could 
not be long deferred. 

Neither of these great men, fellow-citizens, could have 
died, at any time, without leaving an immense void in our 
American society. They have been so intimately, and for 
so long a time, blended with the history of the country, and 
especially so united, in our thoughts and recollections, with 
the events of the Revolution, that the death of either would 
have touched the chords of public sympathy. We should have 
felt that one great link, connecting us with former times, was 
broken ; that we had lost something more, as it were, of 
the presence of the Revolution itself, and of the act of in¬ 
dependence, and were driven on, by another great remove 
6 


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from the days of our country’s early distinction, to meet 
posterity, and to mix with the future. Like the mariner, 
whom the currents of the ocean and the winds carry along, 
till lie sees the stars which have directed his course and 
lighted his pathless way descend, one by one, beneath the 
rising horizon, we should have felt that the stream of time 
had borne us onward till another great luminary, whose light 
had cheered us and whose guidance we had followed, had 
sunk away from our sight. 

But the concurrence of their death on the anniversary 
of Independence has naturally awakened stronger emotions. 
Both had been Presidents, both had lived to great age, both 
were early patriots, and both were distinguished and ever 
honored by their immediate agency in the act of independ¬ 
ence. It cannot but seem striking and extraordinary, that 
these two should live to see the fiftieth year from^the date of 
that act; that they should complete that year ; and that then, 
on the day which had fast linked for ever their own fame with 
their country’s glory, the heavens should open to receive 
them both at once. As their lives themselves were the gifts 
of Providence, who is not willing to recognize in their hap¬ 
py termination, as well as in their long continuance, proofs 
that our country and its benefactors are objects of His 
care ? 

Adams and Jefferson, I have said, are no more. As 
human beings, indeed, they are no more. They are no 
more, as in 1776, bold and fearless advocates of independ¬ 
ence; no more, as at subsequent periods, the head of the 
government; no more, as we have recently seen them, aged 
and venerable objects of admiration and regard. They are 
no more. They are dead. But how little is there of the 
great and good which can die ! To their country they yet 
live, and live for ever. They live in all that perpetuates the 
remembrance of men on earth; in the recorded proofs of 
their own great actions, in the offspring of their intellect, in 
the deep-engraved lines of public gratitude, and in the respect 
and homage of mankind. They live in their example ; and 
they live, emphatically, and will live, in the influence which 
their lives and^ efforts, their principles and opinions, now ex- 



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ercise, and will continue to exercise, on the affairs of men, 
not only in their own country, but throughout the civilized 
world. A superior and commanding human intellect, a 
truly great man, when Heaven vouchsafes so rare a gift, is 
not a temporary flame, burning brightly for a while, and 
then giving place to returning darkness. It is rather a spark 
of fervent heat, as well as radiant light, with power to en¬ 
kindle the common mass of human mind ; so that when it 
glimmers in its own decay, and finally goes out in death, no 
night follows, but it leaves the world all light, all on fire, 
from the potent contact of its own spirit. Bacon died ; but 
the human understanding, roused by the touch of his miracu¬ 
lous wand to a perception of the true philosophy and the 
just mode of inquiring after truth, has kept on its course 
successfully and gloriously. Newton died ; yet the courses 
of the spheres are still known, and they yet move on by 
the laws which he discovered#and in the orbits which he 
saw, and described for them, in the infinity of space. 

No two men now live, fellow-citizens, perhaps it may be 
doubted whether any two men have ever lived in one age, 
who, more than those we now commemorate, have im¬ 
pressed on mankind their own sentiments in regard to poli¬ 
tics and government, infused their own opinions more deeply 
into the opinions of others, or given a more lasting direction 
to the current of human thought. Their work doth not 
perish with them. The tree which they assisted to plant 
will flourish, although they water it and protect it no longer ; 
for it has struck its roots deep, it has sent them to the very 
centre ; no storm, not of force to burst the orb, can overturn 
it; its branches spread wide; they stretch their protecting 
arms broader and broader, and its top is destined to reach 
the heavens. We are not deceived. There is no delusion 
here. No age will come in which the American Revolution 
will appear less than it is, one of the greatest events in hu¬ 
man history. No age will come in which it shall cease to 
be seen and felt, on either continent, that a mighty step, a 
great advance, not only in American affairs, but in human 
affairs, was made on the ‘4th of July, 1776. And no age 
will come, we trust, so ignorant or so unjust as not to 


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see and acknowledge the efficient agency of those we now 
honor in producing that momentous event. 

We are not assembled, therefore, fellow-citizens, as men 
overwhelmed with calamity by the sudden disruption of the 
ties of friendship or affection, or as in despair for the re¬ 
public by the untimely blighting of its hopes. Death has not 
surprised us by an unseasonable blow. We have, indeed, 
seen the tomb close, but it has closed only over mature years, 
over long-protracted public service, over the weakness of 
age, and over life itself only when the ends of living had 
been fulfilled. These suns, as they rose slowly and steadily, 
amidst clouds and storms, in their ascendant, so they have 
not rushed from their meridian to sink suddenly in the 
west. Like the mildness, the serenity, the continuing 
benignity of a summer’s day, they have gone down with 
slow-descending, grateful, long-lingering light ; and now 
that they are beyond the visible margin of the world, good 
omens cheer us from “the bright track of their fiery 
car ”! 

There were many points of similarity in the lives and for¬ 
tunes of these great men. They belonged to the same pro¬ 
fession, and had pursued its studies and its practice, for 
unequal lengths of time indeed, but with diligence and 
effect. Both were learned and able lawyers. They were 
natives and inhabitants, respectively, of those two of the 
Colonies which at the Revolution were the largest and most 
powerful, and which naturally had a lead in the political 
affairs of the times. When the Colonies became in some 
degree united, by the assembling of a general Congress, 
they were brought to act together in its deliberations, not 
indeed at the same time, but both at early periods. Each 
had already manifested his attachment to the cause of the 
country, as well as *his ability to maintain it, by printed ad¬ 
dresses, public speeches, extensive correspondence, and 
whatever other mode could be adopted for the purpose of 
exposing the encroachments of the British Parliament, and 
animating the people to a manly resistance. Both were 
not only decided, but early, friends of Independence. 
While others yet doubted, they were resolved ; where others 


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65 


hesitated, they pressed forward. They were both mem¬ 
bers of the committee for preparing the Declaration of In¬ 
dependence, and they constituted the sub-committee appoint¬ 
ed by the other members to make the draft. They left 
their seats in Congress, being called to other public employ¬ 
ments, at periods not remote from each other, although one 
of them returned to it afterwards for a short time. Neither 
of them was of the assembly of great men which formed 
the present Constitution, and neither was at any time a 
member of Congress under its provisions. Both have been 
public ministers abroad, both Vice-Presidents and both 
Presidents of the United States. These coincidences are 
now singularly crowned and completed. They have died 
together; and they died on the anniversary of liberty. 

When many of us were last in this place, fellow-citizens, 
it was on the day of that anniversary. We were met to 
enjoy the festivities belonging to the occasion, and to mani¬ 
fest our grateful homage to our political fathers. We did 
not, we could not here, forget our venerable neighbor of 
Quincy. We knew that we were standing, at a time of 
high and palmy prosperity, where he had stood in the hour 
of utmost peril; that we saw nothing %ut liberty and secu¬ 
rity, where he had met the frown of power; that we were 
enjoying every thing, where he had hazarded every thing ; 
and just and sincere plaudits rose to his name, from the 
crowds which filled this area, and hung over these galleries. 
He whose grateful duty it was to speak to us,* on that day, 
of the virtues of our fathers, had, indeed, admonished us 
that time and years were about to level his venerable frame 
with the dust. But he bade us hope that “ the sound of a 
nation’s joy, rushing from our cities, ringing from our val¬ 
leys, echoing from our hills, might yet break the silence of 
his aged ear; that the rising blessings of grateful millions 
might yet visit with glad light his decaying vision.” Alas! 
that vision was then closing for ever,. Alas ! the silence 
which was then settling on that aged ear was an everlasting 
silence ! For, lo ! in the very moment of our festivities, his 

* Hon. Josiah Quincy. 

6 * 


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freed spirit ascended to God who gave it! Human aid and 
human solace terminate at the grave; or we would gladly 
have borne him upward, on a nation’s outspread hands; we 
would have accompanied him, and with the blessings of 
millions and the prayers of millions, commended him to the 
Divine favor. 

While still indulging our thoughts, on the coincidence of 
the death of this venerable man with the anniversary of In¬ 
dependence, we learn that Jefferson, too, has fallen ; and 
that these aged patriots, these illustrious fellow-laborers, 
have left our world together. May not such events raise 
the suggestion that they are not undesigned, and that Heaven 
does so order things, as sometimes to attract strongly the 
attention and excite the thoughts of men 1 The occurrence 
has added new interest to our anniversary, and will be re¬ 
membered in all time to come. 

John Adams was born at Quincy, then part of the 
ancient town of Braintree, on the 19th day of October, (old 
style,) 1735. 1^ was a descendant of the Puritans, his an¬ 

cestors having early emigrated from England, and settled in 
Massachusetts. Discovering in childhood a strong love of 
reading and of knowledge, together with marks of great 
strength and activity of mind, proper care was taken by his 
worthy father to provide for his education. He pursued his 
youthful studies in Braintree, under Mr. Marsh, a teacher 
whose fortune it was that Josiah Quincy, Jr., as well as the 
subject of these remarks, should receive from him his in¬ 
struction in the rudiments of classical literature. Having 
been admittted, in 1751, a member of Harvard College, Mr. 
Adams was graduated, in course, in 1755. 

Choosing the law for his profession, he commenced and. 
prosecuted its studies at Worcester, under the direction of 
Samuel Putnam, a gentleman whom he has himself described 
as an acute man, an able and learned lawyer, and as being 
in large professional practice at that time. In 1758 he was 
admitted to the bar, and entered upon the practice of the 
law in Braintree. lie is understood to have made his first 
considerable effort, or to have attained his first signal suc¬ 
cess, at Plymouth, on one of those occasions which furnish 




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the earliest opportunity for distinction to many young men 
of the profession, a jury trial, and a criminal cause. 

In 1766 he removed his residence to Boston, still con¬ 
tinuing his attendance on the neighboring circuits, and not 
unfrequently called to remote parts of the Province. In 
1770 his professional firmness was brought to a test of some 
severity, on the application of the British officers and soldiers 
to undertake their defence, on the trial of the indictments 
found against them on account of the transactions of the 
memorable 5th of March. He seems to have thought, on 
this occasion, that a man can no more abandon the proper 
duties of his profession, than he can abandon other duties. 
The event proved, that, as he judged well for his own repu¬ 
tation, so, too, he jpdged well for the interest and perma¬ 
nent fame of his country. The result of that trial proved, 
that, notwithstanding the high degree of excitement then 
existing in consequence of the measures of the British gov¬ 
ernment, a jury of Massachusetts would not deprive the 
most reckless enemies, even the officers of that standing 
army quartered among them, which they so perfectly ab¬ 
horred, of any part of that protection which the law, in its 
mildest and most indulgent interpretation, affords to persons 
accused'of crimes. 

Without following Mr. Adams’s professional course fur¬ 
ther, suffice it to say, that on the first establishment of the 
judicial tribunals under the authority of the State, in 1776, 
he received an offer of the high and responsible station of 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. But 
he was destined for another and a different career. From 
early life the bent of his mind was toward politics; a pro¬ 
pensity w r hich the state of the times, if it did not create, 
doubtless very mu<5h strengthened. Public subjects must 
have occupied the thoughts and filled up the conversation 
in the circles in which he then moved; and the interesting 
questions at that time just arising could not but seize on a 
mind like his, ardent, sanguine, and patriotic. A le|ter, 
fortunately preserved, written by him at Worcester, so early 
as the 12th of October, 1755, is a proof of very comprehen¬ 
sive views, and uncommon depth of reflection, in a young 


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man not yet quite twenty. In this letter he predicted the 
transfer of power, and the establishment of a new seat of 
empire in America; he predicted, also, the increase of pop¬ 
ulation in the Colonies; and anticipated their naval distinc¬ 
tion, and foretold that all Europe combined could not sub¬ 
due them. All this is said, not on a public occasion or for 
effect, but in the style of sober and friendly correspondence, 
as the result of his own thoughts. “ I sometimes retire,” 
said he, at the close of the letter, “ and, laying things to¬ 
gether, form some reflections pleasing to myself. The 
produce of one of these reveries you have read above.” * 
This prognostication so early in his own life, so early in 
the history of the country, of independence, of vast increase 
of numbers, of naval force, of such augmented power as 
might defy all Europe, is remarkable. It is more remark¬ 
able that its author should live to see fulfilled to the letter 
what coidd have seemed to others, at the time, but the ex¬ 
travagance of youthful fancy. His earliest political feelings 
were thus strongly American, and from this ardent attach¬ 
ment to his native soil he never departed. 

While still living at Quincy, and at the age of twenty- 
four, Mr. Adams was present, in this town, at the argument 
before the Supreme Court respecting Writs of Assistance, 
and heard the celebrated and patriotic speech of James 
Otis. Unquestionably that. was a masterly performance. 
No flighty declamation about liberty, no superficial discussion 
of popular topics, it was a learned, penetrating, convincing, 
constitutional argument, expressed in a strain of high and 
resolute patriotism. He grasped the question then pending 
between England and her Colonies with the strength of a 
lion; and if he sometimes sported, it was only because the 

* Extract of a letter written by John Adams to Nathan Webb, dated at 
Worcester, Massachusetts, October 12, 1755. 

“ Soon after the Reformation, a few people came over into this New 
World, for conscience’ sake. Perhaps this apparent trivial incident may 
transfer the great seat of empire into America. It looks likely to me ; for, 
if w^can remove the turbulent Gallics, our people, according to the exactcst 
computations, will, in another century, become more numerous than England 
itself. Should this be the case, since we have, I may say, all the naval 
stores of the nation in our hands, it will be easy to obtain a mastery of the 
seas ; and then the united force of all Europe will not be able to subdue us. 
The only way to keep its from setting up for ourselves is to disunite us. ” 


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lion himself is sometimes playful. Its success appears to 
have been as- great as its merits, and its impression was 
widely felt. Mr. Adams himself seems never to have lost 
the feeling it produced, and to have entertained constantly 
the fullest conviction of its important effects. “ I do say,” 
he observes, “ in the most solemn manner, that Mr. Otis’s 
Oration against Writs of Assistance breathed into this na¬ 
tion the breath of life.” 

The citizens of this town conferred on Mr. Adams his 
first political distinction, and clothed him with his first po¬ 
litical trust, by electing him one of their representatives, in 
17/0. Before this time he had become extensively known 
throughout the Province, as well by the part he had acted 
in relation to public affairs, as by the exercise of his pro¬ 
fessional ability. He was among those who took the deep¬ 
est interest in the controversy with England, and whether 
in or out of the legislature, his time and talents were alike 
devoted to the cause. In the years 1773 and 1774 he was 
chosen a Councillor by the members of the General Court, 
but rejected by Governor Hutchinson in the former of those • 
years, and by Governor Gage in the latter. 

The time was now at hand, however, when the affairs of 
the Colonies urgently demanded united counsels throughout 
the country. An open rupture with the parent state ap¬ 
peared inevitable, and it was but the dictate of prudence that 
those who were united by a common interest and a common 
danger should protect that interest and guard against that 
danger by united efforts. A general Congress of Delegates 
from all the Colonies having been proposed and agreed to, 
the House of Representatives, on the 17th of June, 1774, 
elected James Bowdoin, Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, 
John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine, delegates from Mas¬ 
sachusetts. This appointment was made at Salem, where 
the General Court had been convened by Governor Gage, 
in the last hour of the existence of a House of Representa¬ 
tives under the Provincial Charter. While engaged in this 
important business, the Governor, having been informed of 
what was passing, sent his secretary with a message dis¬ 
solving the General Court. The secretary, finding the door 


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locked, directed the messenger to go in. and inform the 
Speaker that the secretary was at the door with a message 
from the Governor. The messenger returned, and informed 
the secretary that the orders of the House were that the 
doors should be kept fast; whereupon the secretary soon 
after read upon the stairs a proclamation dissolving the 
General Court. Thus terminated, for ever, the actual exer¬ 
cise of the political power of England in or over Massachu¬ 
setts. The four last-named delegates accepted their ap¬ 
pointments, and took their seats in Congre'ss the first day 
of its meeting, the 5th of September, 1774, in Philadelphia. 

The proceedings of the first Congress are well known, 
and have been universally admired. It is in vain that we 
would look for superior proofs of wisdom, talent, and pa¬ 
triotism. Lord Chatham said, that, for himself, he must 
declare that he had studied and admired the free states of 
antiquity, the master states of the world, but that for so¬ 
lidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of con¬ 
clusion, no body of men could stand in preference to this 
•Congress. It is hardly inferior praise to say, that no pro¬ 
duction of that great man himself can be pronounced supe¬ 
rior to several of the papers published as the proceedings of 
this most able, most firm, most patriotic assembly. There 
is, indeed, nothing superior to them in the range of political 
disquisition. They not only embrace, illustrate, and enforce 
every thing which political philosophy, the love of liberty, 
and the spirit of free inquiry had antecedently produced, 
but they add new and striking views of their own, and ap¬ 
ply the whole, with irresistible force, in support of the 
cause which had drawn them together. 

As it was in the Continental Congress, fellow-citizens, 
that those whose deaths have given rise to this occasion 
were first brought together, and called upon to unite their 
industry and their ability in the service of the country, let 
us now turn to the other of these distinguished men, and 
take a brief notice of his life up to the period when he ap¬ 
peared within the walls of Congress. 

Thomas Jefferson, descended from ancestors who had 
been settled in Virginia for some generations, was born near 


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the spot on which he died, in the county of Albemarle, on 
the 2d of April, (old style,) 1743. Ilis youthful studies were 
pursued in the neighborhood of his father’s residence until 
he was removed to the College of William and Mary, the 
highest honors of which he in due time received. Having 
left the college with reputation, he applied himself to the 
study of the law under the tuition of George Wythe, one of 
the highest judicial names of which that State can boast. 
At an early age he was elected a member of the legislature, 
in which he had no sooner appeared than he distinguished 
himself by knowledge, capacity, and promptitude. 

Mr. Jefferson appears to have been imbued with an early 
love of letters and science, and to have cherished a strong 
disposition to pursue these objects. To the physical sci¬ 
ences, especially, and to ancient classic literature, he is 
understood to have had a warm attachment, and never en¬ 
tirely to have lost sight of them in the midst of the busiest 
occupations. But the times were times for action, rather 
than for contemplation. The country was to be defended, 
and to be saved, before it could be enjoyed. Philosophic lei¬ 
sure and literary pursuits, and even the objects of professional 
attention, were all necessarily postponed to the urgent calls 
of the public service. The exigency of the country made 
the same demand on Mr. Jefferson that it made on others 
who had the ability and the disposition to serve it, and 
he obeyed the call. 

Entering with all his heart into the cause of liberty, his 
ability, patriotism, and power with the pen. naturally drew 
upon him a large participation in the most important con¬ 
cerns. Wherever he was, there was found a soul devoted 
to the cause, power to defend and maintain it, and willing¬ 
ness to incur all its hazards. In 1774 he published a Sum¬ 
mary View of the Rights of British America, a valuable 
production among those intended to show the dangers 
which threatened the liberties of the country, and to en¬ 
courage the people in their defence. In June, 1775, he 
was elected a member of the Continental Congress, as suc¬ 
cessor to Peyton Randolph, who had resigned his place on 
account of ill health, and took his seat in that body on the 
21st of the same month. 


m 


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And now, fellow-citizens, without pursuing the biography 
of these illustrious men further, for the present, let us turn 
our attention to the most prominent act of their lives, their 
participation in the Declaration of Independence. 

Preparatory to the introduction of that important meas¬ 
ure, a committee, at the head of which was Mr. Adams, 
had reported a resolution which Congress adopted on 
the 10th of May, recommending, in substance, to all the 
Colonies which had not already established governments 
suited to the exigencies of their affairs, to adopt such govern¬ 
ment as would , in th&ppinion of the representatives of the peo¬ 
ple, best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constitu¬ 
ents in particular , and America in general. 

This significant vote was soon followed by the direct 
proposition which Richard Henry Lee had the honor to 
submit to Congress, by resolution, on the 7th day of June. 
The published journal does not expressly state it, but there 
is no doubt, I suppose, that this resolution was in the same 
words, when originally submitted by Mr. Lee, as when finally 
«?passed. Having been discussed on Saturday, the 8th, and 
Monday, the 10th of June, this resolution was on the last- 
mentioned day postponed for further consideration to the 
first day of July; and at the same time it was voted, that a 
committee be appointed to prepare a Declaration to the 
effect of the resolution. This committee was elected by 
ballot, on the following day, and consisted of Thomas Jef¬ 
ferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, 
and Robert R. Livingston. 

It is usual, when committees are elected by ballot, that 
their members should be arranged in order, according to 
the number of votes which each has received. Mr. Jeffer¬ 
son, therefore, had received the highest, and Mr. Adams the 
next highest number of votes. The difference is said to 
have been but of a single vote. Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Ad¬ 
ams, standing thus at the head of the committee, w r ere re¬ 
quested by the other members to act as a sub-committee to 
prepare the draft; and Mr. Jefferson drew up the paper. 
The original draft as brought by him from his study, and 
submitted to the other meitibers of the committee, with in- 


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terlineations in the handwriting of Dr. Franklin, and others 
in that of Mr. Adams* was in Mr. Jefferson’s possession at 
the time of his death. The merit of this paper is Mr. 
Jefferson’s. Some changes were made in it at the sugges¬ 
tion of other members of the committee, and others by 
Congress while it was under discussion. Bat none of them 
altered the tone, the frame, the arrangement, or the general 
character of the instrument. As a composition, the Decla¬ 
ration is Mr. Jefferson’s. It is the production of his mind, 
and the high honor of it belongs to him, clearly and 
absolutely. 

It has sometimes been said, as if it were a derogation from 
the merits of this paper, that it contains nothing new,; that it 
only states grounds of proceeding, and presses topics of argu¬ 
ment, which had often been stated and pressed before. But 
it was not the object of the Declaration to produce any thing 
new. It was not to invent reasons for Independence, but 
to state those which governed the Congress. For great and 
sufficient causes, it was proposed to declare independence; 
and the proper business of the paper to be drawn was to 
set forth those causes, and justify the authors of the meas¬ 
ure, in any event of fortune, to the country and to posterity. 
The cause of American independence, moreover, was now 
to be presented to the world in such manner, if it might so 
be, as to engage its sympathy, to command its respect, to 
attract its admiration ; and in an assembly of most able and 
distinguished men, Thomas Jefferson had the high honor of 
being the selected advocate of this cause. To say that he 
performed his great work well, would be doing him injustice. 
To say that he did excellently well, admirably well, would 
be inadequate and halting praise. Let us rather say, that 
he so discharged the duty assigned him, that all Americans 
may well rejoice that the work of drawing the title deed of 
their liberties devolved upon him. 

With all its merits, there are those who have thought that 
there was one thing in the Declaration to be regretted ; and 
that is, the asperity and apparent anger with which it speaks 
of the person of the king; the industrious ability with which 
it accumulates and charges upon him all the injuries which 


74 


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the Colonies had suffered from the mother country. Pos¬ 
sibly some degree of injustice, now oi # hereafter, at home or 
abroad, may be done to the character of Mr. Jefferson, if 
this part of the declaration be not placed in its proper light. 
Anger or resentment, certainly much less personal reproach 
and invective, could not properly find place in a compo¬ 
sition of such high dignity, and of such lofty and permanent 
character. 

A single reflection on the original ground of dispute be¬ 
tween England and the Colonies is sufficient to remove any 
unfavorable impression in this respect. 

The inhabitants of all the Colonies, while Colonies, ad¬ 
mitted themselves bound by their allegiance to the king; 
but they disclaimed altogether the authority of Parliament ; 
holding themselves, in this respect, to resemble the condition 
of Scotland and Ireland before the respective unions of those 
kingdoms with England, when they acknowledged allegiance 
to the same king, but had each its separate legislature. 
The tie, therefore, which our revolution was to break did 
not subsist between us and the British Parliament, or be¬ 
tween us and the British government in the aggregate, but 
directly between us and the king himself. The Colonies 
had never admitted themselves subject to Parliament. That 
was precisely the point of the original controversy. They 
had uniformly denied that Parliament had authority to make 
laws for them. There was, therefore, no subjection to 
Parliament to be thrown off. But allegiance to the king 
did exist, and had been uniformly acknowledged ; and down 
to 1775 the most solemn assurances had been given that it 
was not intended to break that allegiance, or to throw it off. 
Therefore, as the direct object and only effect of the Decla¬ 
ration, according to the principles on which the controversy 
had been maintained on our part, were to sever the tie of 
allegiance which bound us to the king, it was properly and 
necessarily founded on acts of the crown itself, as its justi¬ 
fying causes. Parliament is not so much as mentioned in 
the whole instrument. When odious and oppressive acts 
are referred to, it is done by charging the king with con¬ 
federating with others “ in pretended acts of legislation; ” 


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the object being constantly to hold the king himself directly 
responsible for those measures which were the grounds of 
separation. Even the precedent of the English Revolution 
was not overlooked, and in this case, as well as in that, oc¬ 
casion was found to say that the king had abdicated the 
government. Consistency with the principles upon which 
resistance began, and with all the previous state papers is¬ 
sued by Congress, required that the Declaration should be 
bottomed on the misgovernment of the king; and therefore 
it was properly framed with that aim and to that end. The 
king was known, indeed, to have acted, as in other cases, 
by his ministers, and with his Parliament; but as our ances¬ 
tors had never admitted themselves subject either to minis¬ 
ters or to Parliament, there were no reasons to be given for 
now refusing obedience to their authority. This clear and 
obvious necessity of founding the Declaration on the mis¬ 
conduct of the king himself, gives to that instrument its per¬ 
sonal application, and its character of direct and pointed 
accusation. 

The Declaration having been reported to Congress by 
the committee, the resolution itself was taken up and de¬ 
bated on the first day of July, and again on the second, 
on which last day it was agreed to and adopted, in these 
words: — 

“ Resolved , That these united Colonies are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent States; that they are 
absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that 
all political connection between them and the State of Great 
Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.” 

Having thus passed the main resolution, Congress pro¬ 
ceeded to consider the reported draught of the Declaration. 
It was discussed on the second, and third, and fourth days 
of the month, in committee of the whole; and on the last 
of those days, being reported from that fcommittee, it re¬ 
ceived the final approbation and sanction of Congress. It 
was ordered, at the same time, that copies be sent to the 
several States, and that it be proclaimed at the head of the 
army. The Declaration thus published did not bear the 
names of the members, for as yet it had not been signed by 


76 


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them. It was authenticated, like other papers of the Con¬ 
gress, by the signatures of the President and Secretary. 
On the 19th of July, as appears by the secret journal, Con¬ 
gress “ Resolved , That the Declaration, passed on the fourth, 
be fairly engrossed on parchment, with the title and style 
of « The unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen 
United States of America;’ and that the same, when 
engrossed, be signed by every member of Congress.” And 
on the second day of august following, “ the Declaration, 
being engrossed and compared at the table, was signed by 
the members.” So that it happens, fellow-citizens, that we 
pay these honors to their memory on the anniversary of 
that day (2d of August) on which these great men actually 
signed their names to the Declaration. The Declaration 
was thus made, that is, it passed and was adopted as an act 
of Congress, on the fourth of July; it was then signed and 
certified by the President and Secretary, like other acts. 
The Fourth of July, therefore, is the anniversary of 
the Declaration. But the signatures of the members 
present were made to it, being then engrossed on parch¬ 
ment, on the second day of August. Absent members af¬ 
terwards signed, as they came in; and indeed it bears the 
names of some who were not chosen members of Congress 
until after the fourth of July. The interest belonging 
to the subject will be sufficient, I hope, to justify these 
details. 

The Congress of the Revolution, fellow-citizens, sat with 
closed doors, and no report of its debates was ever made. 
The discussion, therefore, which accompanied this great 
measure, has never been preserved, except in memory and 
by tradition. But it is, I believe, doing no injustice to oth¬ 
ers to say, that the general opinion was, and uniformly has 
been, that in debate, on the side of independence, John 
Adams had no equal. The great author of the Declaration 
himself has expressed that opinion uniformly and strongly. 
“ John Adams,” said he, in the hearing of him who has 
now the honor to address you, “John Adams was our co¬ 
lossus on the floor. Not graceful, not elegant, not always 
fluent, in his public addresses, he yet came out with a power, 


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both of thought and expression, which moved us from our 
seats.” 

For the part which he was here to perform, Mr. Adams 
doubtless was eminently fitted. He possessed a bold spirit, 
which disregarded danger, and a sanguine reliance on the 
goodness of the cause, and the virtues of the people, which 
led him to overlook all obstacles. His character, too, had 
been formed in troubled times. He had been rocked in the 
early storms of the controversy, and had acquired a de¬ 
cision and a hardihood proportioned to the severity of the 
discipline which he had undergone. 

He not only loved the American cause devoutly, but had 
studied and understood it. It was all familiar to him. He had 
tried his powers on the questions which it involved, often and 
in various ways; and had brought to their consideration what¬ 
ever of argument or illustration the history of his own coun¬ 
try, the history of England, or the stores of ancient or of 
legal learning could furnish. Every grievance enumerated 
in the long catalogue of the Declaration had been the sub¬ 
ject of his discussion, and the object of his remonstrance 
and reprobation. From 1760, the Colonies, the rights of 
the Colonies, the liberties of the Colonies, and the wrongs 
inflicted on the Colonies, had engaged his constant attention; 
and it has surprised those who have had the opportunity of 
witnessing it, with what full remembrance and with what 
prompt recollection he could refer, in his extreme old age, 
to every act of Parliament affecting the Colonies, distin¬ 
guishing and stating their respective titles, sections, and 
provisions ; and to all the Colonial memorials, remon¬ 
strances, and petitions, with whatever else belonged to 
the intimate and exact history of the times from that 
year to 1775. It was, in his own judgment, between these 
years that the American people came to a full understanding 
and thorough knowledge of their rights, and to a fixed reso¬ 
lution of maintaining them ; and bearing himself an active 
part in all important transactions, the controversy with Eng¬ 
land being then in effect the business of his life, facts, dates, 
and particulars made an impression which^vas never effaced. 
He was prepared, therefore, by education and discipline, as 
7* 


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well as by natural talent and natural temperament, for the 
part which he was now to act. 

The eloquence of Mr. Adams resembled his general char¬ 
acter, and formed, indeed, a part of it. It was bold, manly, 
and energetic; and such the crisis required. When public 
bodies are to be addressed on momentous occasions, when 
great interests are at stake, and strong passions excited, 
nothing is valuable in speech further than as it is connected 
with high intellectual and moral endowments. Clearness, 
force, and earnestness are the qualities which produce con¬ 
viction. True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in speech. 
It cannot be brought from far. Labor and learning may 
toil for it, but they will toil in vain. Words and phrases 
may be marshalled in every way, but they cannot compass 
it. It must exist in the man, in the subject, and in the oc¬ 
casion. Affected passion, intense expression, the pomp of 
declamation, all may aspire to it; they cannot reach it. It 
comes, if it come at all, like the outbreaking of a fountain 
from the earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, with 
spontaneous, original, native force. The graces taught in 
the schools, the costly ornaments and studied contrivances 
of speech, shock and disgust men, when their own lives, and 
the fate of their wives, their children, and their country, 
hang on the decision of the hour. Then words have lost 
their power, rhetoric is vain, and all elaborate oratory con¬ 
temptible. Even genius itself then feels rebuked and sub¬ 
dued, as in the presence of higher qualities. Then patriot¬ 
ism is eloquent; then self-devotion is eloquent. The clear 
conception, outrunning the deductions of logic, the high 
purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit, speaking on 
the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every feature, 
and urging the whole man onward, right onward to his ob¬ 
ject,— this, this is eloquence; or rather it is something 
greater and higher than all eloquence, it is action, noble, 
sublime, godlike action. 

In July, 1776, the controversy had passed the stage of 
argument. An appeal had been made to force, and oppos¬ 
ing armies were in the field. Congress, then, was to decide 
whether the tie which had so long bound us to the parent 


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state was to be severed at once, and severed for ever. AH 
the Colonies had signified their resolution to abide by this 
decision, and the people looked for it with the most intense 
anxiety. And surely, fellow-citizens, never, never were 
men called to a more important political deliberation. If 
we contemplate it from the point where they then stood, no 
question could be more full of interest; if we look at it now, 
and judge of its importance by its effects, it appears of still 
greater magnitude. 

Let us, then, bring before us the assembly, which was 
about to decide a question thus big with the fate of em¬ 
pire. Let us open their doors and look in upon their de¬ 
liberations. Let us survey the anxious and careworn coun¬ 
tenances, let us hear the firm-toned voices of this band of 
patriots. 

Hancock presides over the solemn sitting; and one of 
those not yet prepared to pronounce for absolute independ¬ 
ence is on the floor, and is urging his reasons for dissent¬ 
ing from the declaration. 

“ Let us pause ! This step, once taken, cannot be re¬ 
traced. This resolution, once passed, will cut oft* all hope 
of reconciliation. If success attend the arms of England, 
we shall then be no longer Colonies, with charters and with 
privileges ; these will all be forfeited by this act; and we shall 
be in the condition of other conquered people, at the mercy 
of the conquerors. For ourselves, we may be ready to run 
the hazard ; but are we ready to carry the country to that 
length ? Is success so probable as to justify it ? Where is 
the military, where the naval power, by which we are to 
resist the whole strength of the arm of England, for she 
will exert that strength to the utmost ? Can we rely on 
the constancy and perseverance of the people ? or will they 
not act as the people of other countries have actfed, and, 
wearied with a long war, submit, in the end, to a worse 
oppression ? While we stand on our old ground, and insist 
on redress of grievances, we know we are right, and are not 
answerable for consequences. Nothing, then, can be im¬ 
puted to us. But if we now change our object, carry our 
pretensions farther, and set up for absolute independence, 


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we shall lose the sympathy of mankind. We shall no long¬ 
er be defending what we possess, but struggling for some¬ 
thing which we never did possess, and which we have sol¬ 
emnly and uniformly disclaimed all intention of pursuing, 
from the very outset of the troubles. Abandoning thus our 
old ground, of resistance only to arbitrary acts of oppres¬ 
sion, the nations will believe the whole to have been mere 
pretence, and they will look on us, not as injured, but as 
ambitious subjects. I shudder before this responsibility. It 
will be on us, if, relinquishing the ground on which we have 
stood so long, and stood so safely, we now proclaim inde¬ 
pendence, and carry on the war for that object, while these 
cities burn, these pleasant fields whiten and bleach with the 
bones of their owners, and these streams run blood. It will 
be upon us, it will be upon us, if, failing to maintain this 
unseasonable and ill-judged declaration, a sterner despotism, 
maintained by military power, shall be established over our 
posterity, when we ourselves, given up by an exhausted, a 
harassed, a misled people, shall have expiated our rashness 
and atoned for our presumption on the scaffold.” 

It was for Mr. Adams to reply to arguments like these. 
We know his opinions, and we know his character. He 
would commence with his accustomed directness and ear¬ 
nestness. 

“ Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my 
hand and my heart to this vote. It is true, indeed, that in 
the beginning we aimed not at independence. But there’s a 
Divinity which shapes our ends. The injustice of England 
has driven us to arms; and, blinded to her own interest for 
our good, she has obstinately persisted, till independence is 
now within our grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and 
it is ours. Why, then, should we defer the Declaration ? Is 
any man so weak as now to hope for a reconciliation with 
England, which shall leave either safety to the country and 
its liberties, or safety to his own life and his own honor ? Are 
not you, Sir, who sit in that chair, is not he, our venerable 
colleague near you, are you not both already the proscribed 
and predestined objects of punishment and of vengeance 1 
Cut off from all hope of royal clemency, what are you, what 


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can you be, while the power of England remains, but outlaws? 
It we postpone independence, do we mean to carry on, or to 
give up the war ? Do we mean to submit to the measures 
of Parliament, Boston Port Bill and all 1 Do we mean to 
submit, and consent that we ourselves shall be ground to 
powder, and our country and its rights trodden down in the 
dust ? I know we do not mean to submit. We never shall 
submit. Do we intend to violate that most solemn obliga¬ 
tion ever entered into by men, that plighting, before God, 
of our sacred honor to Washington, when, putting him forth 
to incur the dangers of war, as well as the political hazards of 
the times, we promised to adhere to him, in every extremity, 
with our fortunes and our lives ? I know there is not a man 
here, who would not rather see a general conflagration sweep 
over the land, or an earthquake sink it, than one jot or 
tittle of that plighted faith fall to the ground. For myself, 
having, twelve months ago, in this place, moved you, that 
George Washington be appointed commander of the forces 
raised, or to be raised, for defence of American liberty, may 
my right hand forget her cunning, and my tongue cleave to 
the roof of my mouth, if I hesitate or waver in the support 
I give him. 

“ The war, then, must go on. We must fight it through. 
And if the war must go on, why put off longer the Dec¬ 
laration of Independence 1 That measure will strengthen 
us. It will give us character abroad. The nations will 
then treat with us, which they never can do while we ac¬ 
knowledge ourselves subjects, in arms against our sovereign. 
Nay, I maintain that England herself will sooner treat for 
peace with us on the footing of independence, than consent, 
by repealing her acts, to acknowledge that her whole con¬ 
duct towards us has been a course of injustice and oppres¬ 
sion. Her pride will be less wounded by submitting to that 
course of things which now predestinates our independence, 
than by yielding the points in controversy to her rebellious 
subjects. The former she would regard as the result of 
fortune; the latter she would feel as her own deep dis¬ 
grace. Why, then, why, then, Sir, do we not as soon as 
possible change this from' a civil to a national war ? And 


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since we must fight it through, why not put ourselves in a state 
to enjoy all the benefits of victory, if we gain the victory 1 

“ If we fail, it can be no worse for us. But we shall not 
fail. The cause will raise up armies ; the cause will create 
navies. The people, the people, if we are true to them, 
will carry us, and will carry themselves, gloriously, through 
this struggle. I care not how fickle other people have been 
found. I know the people of these Colonies, and I know 
that resistance to British aggression is deep and settled in 
their hearts and cannot be eradicated. Every Colony, in¬ 
deed, has expressed its willingness to follow, if we but take 
the lead. Sir, the Declaration will inspire the people with 
increased courage. Instead of a long and bloody war for 
the restoration of privileges, for redress of grievances, for 
chartered immunities, held under a British king, set before 
them the glorious object of entire independence, and it will 
breathe into them anew the breath of life. Read this Dec¬ 
laration at the head of the army ; every sword will be drawn 
from its scabbard, and the solemn vow uttered, to maintain 
it, or to perish on the bed of honor. Publish it from the 
pulpit; religion will approve it, and the love of religious 
liberty will cling round it, resolved to stand with it, or fall 
with it. Send it to the public halls ; proclaim it there; let 
them hear it who heard the first roar of the enemy’s cannon ; 
let them see it who saw their brothers and their sons fall on 
the field of Bunker Hill, and in the streets of Lexington 
and Concord, and the very walls will cry out in its support. 

“ Sir, I know the uncertainty of human affairs, but I see, 
I see clearly, through this day’s business. You and I, in¬ 
deed, may rue it. We may not live to the time when this 
Declaration shall be made good. We may die ; die colo¬ 
nists ; die slaves ; die, it may be, ignominiously and on the 
scaffold. Be it so. Be it so. If it be the pleasure of 
Heaven that my country shall require the poor offering of 
my life, the victim shall be ready at the appointed hour 
of sacrifice, come when that hour may. But while I do 
live, let me have a country, or at least the hope of a coun¬ 
try, and that a free country. 

c “ But whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured 


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that this Declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and 
it may cost blood ; but it will stand, and it will richly 
compensate for both. Through the thick gloom of the 
present, I see the brightness of the future, as the sun in 
heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal day. 
When we are in our graves, our children will honor it. 
They will celebrate it with thanksgiving, with festivity, with 
bonfires, and illuminations. On its annual return they will 
shed tears, copious, gushing tears, not of subjection and 
slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of 
gratitude, and of joy. Sir, before God, I believe the hour 
is come. My judgment approves this measure, and my 
whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and 
all that I hope, in this life, I am now ready here to stake 
upon it; and I leave off as I begun, that live or die, survive 
or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living senti- ® 
ment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sen¬ 
timent, Independence now , and independence for ever.” 

And so that day shall be honored, illustrious prophet and 
patriot ! so that day shall be honored, and as often as it 
returns, thy renown shall come along with it, and the glory 
of thy life, like the day of thy death, shall not fail from the 
remembrance of men. 

It would be unjust, fellow-citizens, on this occasion, while 
we express our veneration for him who is the immediate 
subject of these remarks, were we to omit a most respectful, 
affectionate, and grateful mention of those other great men, 
his colleagues, who stood with him, and with the same spirit, 
the same devotion, took part in the interesting transaction. 
Hancock, the proscribed Hancock, exiled from his home by 
a military governor, cut off by proclamation from the mercy 
of the crown,—Heaven reserved for him the distinguished 
honor of putting this great question to the vote, and of 
writing his own name first, and most conspicuously, on that 
parchment which spoke defiance to the power of the crown 
of England. There, too, is the name of that other pro¬ 
scribed patriot, Samuel .Adams, a man who hungered and 
thirsted for the independence of his country ; who thought 
the Declaration halted and lingered, being himself not only 


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ready, but eager, for it, Jong before it was proposed; a man 
of the deepest sagacity, the clearest foresight, and the pro- 
foundest judgment in men. And there is Gerry, himself 
among the earliest and the foremost of the patriots, found, 
when the battle of Lexington summoned them to common 
counsels, by the side of Warren; a man who lived to serve 
his country at home and abroad, and to die in the second 
place in the government. There, too, is the inflexible, the 
upright, the Spartan character, Robert Treat Paine. He 
also lived to serve his country through the struggle, and 
then withdrew from her councils only that he might give his 
labors and his life to his native State in another relation. 
These names, fellow-citizens, are the treasures of the Com¬ 
monwealth; and they are treasures which grow brighter by 
time. 

Mr. Adams remained in Congress from its first meeting 

till November, 1777, when he was appointed Minister to 

France. He proceeded on that service in the February 

following, embarking in the frigate Boston, from the shore of 

his native town, at the foot of Mount Wollaston. The year 

following, he was appointed commissioner to treat of peace 

with England. Returning to the United States, he was a 

delegate from Braintree in the Convention for framing the 
© © 

Constitution of this Commonwealth, in 1780. At the latter 
end of the same year, he again went abroad in the diplo¬ 
matic service of the country, and was employed at various 
courts, and occupied with various negotiations, until 1788. 
The particulars of these interesting and important services 
this occasion does not allow time to relate. In 1782 he con¬ 
cluded our first treatv with Holland. His negotiations with 
that republic, his efforts to persuade the States General to 
recognize our independence, his incessant and indefatigable 
exertions to represent the American cause favorably on the 
Continent, and to coumteract the designs of its enemies, 
open and secret, and his successful undertaking to obtain 
loans, on the credit of a nation yet new and unknown, 
are among his most arduous, most useful, most honorable 
services. It was his fortune to bear a part in the negotia¬ 
tion for peace with England, and in something more than 


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six years from the Declaration which he had so strenuously 
supported, he had the satisfaction of seeing the minister 
plenipotentiary of the crown subscribe his name to the in¬ 
strument which declared that his “ Britannic Majesty ac¬ 
knowledged the United States to be free, sovereign, and in¬ 
dependent.” In these important transactions, Mr. Adams’s 
v conduct received the marked approbation of Congress and 
of the country. 

Returning to the United State’s in 1788, he found the new 
government about going into operation, and was himself 
elected the first Vice President, a situation which he filled 
with reputation for eight years, at the expiration of which 
he was raised to the Presidential chair, as immediate suc¬ 
cessor to the immortal Washington. In this high station 
he was succeeded by Mr. Jefferson, after a memorable con¬ 
troversy between their respective friends, in 1801 ; and from 
that period his manner of life has been known to all who 
hear me. He has lived, for five and twenty years, with 
every enjoyment that could render old age happy. Not in¬ 
attentive to the occurrences of the times, political cares have 
yet not materially, or for any long time, disturbed his repose. 
In 1820 he acted as elector of President and Vice President, 
and in the same year we saw him, then at the age of eighty- 
five, a member of the Convention of this Commonwealth 
called to revise the Constitution. Forty years before, he 
had been one of those who formed that Constitution ; and 
he had now the pleasure of witnessing that there was little 
which the people desired to change. Possessing all his 
faculties to the end of his long life, with an unabated love 
of reading and contemplation, in the centre of interesting 
circles of friendship and affection, he was blessed in his 
retirement with whatever of repose and felicity the condition 
of man allows. He had, also, other enjoyments, lie saw 
around him that prosperity and general happiness which 
had been the object of his public cares and labors. No 
man ever beheld more clearly, and for a longer time, the 
great and beneficial effects of the services rendered by 
himself to liis country. That liberty which he so early 
defended, that independence of which he was so able an 
8 


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advocate and supporter, he saw, we trust, firmly and se¬ 
curely established. The population of the country thick¬ 
ened around him faster, and extended wider, than his own 
sanguine predictions had anticipated ; and the wealth, re¬ 
spectability, and power of the nation sprang up to a magni¬ 
tude which it is quite impossible he could have expected to 
witness in his day. He lived also to behold those principles f 
of civil freedom which had been developed, established, and 
practically applied in America, attract attention, command 
respect, and awaken imitation, in other regions of the globe ; 
and well might, and well did, he exclaim, “ Where will the 
consequences of the American Revolution end ? ” 

If any thing yet remain to fill this cup of happiness, let it 
be added, that he lived to see a great and intelligent people 
bestow the highest honor in their gift where he had bestowed 
his own kindest parental affections and lodged his fondest 
hopes. Thus honored in life, thus happy at death, he saw 
the jubilee, and he died ; and with the last prayers which 
trembled on his lips was the fervent supplication for his 
country, “ Independence for ever! ” 

Mr. Jefferson having been occupied in the years 1778 and 
1779 in the important service of revising the laws of Vir¬ 
ginia, was elected Governor of that State, as successor to 
Patrick Henry, and held the situation when the State was 
invaded by the British arms. In 1781 he published his 
Notes on Virginia, a work which attracted attention in Eu¬ 
rope as well as America, dispelled many misconceptions 
respecting this continent, and gave its author a place among 
men distinguished for science. In November, 1783, he 
again took his seat in the Continental Congress, but in the 
May following was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary, to 
act abroad, in the negotiation of commercial treaties, with 
Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams. He proceeded to France in 
execution of this mission, embarking at Boston ; and that 
was the only occasion on which he ever visited this place. 
In 1785 he was appointed Minister to France, the duties of 
which situation he continued to perform until October, 1789, 
wdien he obtained leave to retire, just on the eve of that 
tremendous revolution which has so much agitated the world 




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in our times. Mr. Jefferson’s discharge of his diplomatic 
duties was marked by great ability, diligence, and patriot¬ 
ism ; and while he resided at Paris, in one of the most in¬ 
teresting periods, his character for intelligence, his love of 
knowledge and of the society of learned men, distinguished 
him in the highest circles of the French capital. No court 
in Europe had at that time in Paris a representative com¬ 
manding or enjoying higher regard, for political knowledge 
or for general attainments, than the minister of this then 
infant republic. Immediately on his return to his native 
country, at the organization of the government under the 
present Constitution, his talents and experience recommend¬ 
ed him to President Washington for the first office in his 
gift. He was placed at the head of the Department of State. 
In this situation, also, he manifested conspicuous ability. 
His correspondence with the ministers of other powers re¬ 
siding here, and his instructions to our own diplomatic 
agents abroad, are among our ablest state papers. A thor¬ 
ough knowledge of the laws and usages of nations, perfect 
acquaintance with the immediate subject before him, great 
felicity, and still greater facility, in writing, show themselves 
in whatever effort his official situation called on him to make. 
It is believed by competent judges, tiiat the “diplomatic in¬ 
tercourse of the government of the United States, from the 
first meeting of the Continental Congress in 1774 to the 
present time, taken together, would not suffer, in respect to 
the talent with which it has been conducted, by comparison 
with any thing which other and older governments can pro¬ 
duce ; and to the attainment of this respectability and dis¬ 
tinction Mr. Jefferson has contributed his full part. 

On the retirement of General Washington from the Presi¬ 
dency, and the election of Mr. Adams to that office in 1797, 
he was chosen Vice President. While presiding in this 
capacity over the deliberations of the Senate, he compiled 
and published a Manual of Parliamentary Practice, a work 
of more labor and more merit than is indicated by its size. 
It is now received as the general standard by which proceed¬ 
ings are regulated, not only in both Houses of Congress, but 
in most of the other legislative bodies in the country. In 


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1801 he was elected President, in opposition to Mr. Adams, 
and reelected in 1805, by a vote approaching towards 
unanimity. 

From the time of his final retirement from public life, in 
1808, Mr. Jefferson lived as became a wise man. Surround¬ 
ed by affectionate friends, his ardor in the pursuit of knowl¬ 
edge undiminished, with uncommon health and unbroken 
spirits, he was able to enjoy largely the rational pleasures 
of life, and to partake in that public plosperity which he 
had so much contributed to produce. His kindness arid 
hospitality, the charm of his conversation, the ease of his 
manners, the extent of his acquirements, and, especially, the 
full store of Revolutionary incidents which he had treasured 
in his memory, and which he knew when and how to 
dispense, rendered his abode in a high degree attractive to 
his admiring countrymen, while his high public and scien¬ 
tific character drew towards him every intelligent and edu¬ 
cated traveller from abroad. Both Mr. Adams and Mr. 
Jefferson had the pleasure of knowing that the respect which 
they so largely received was not paid to their official stations. 
They were not men made great by office ; but great men, 
on whom the country for its own benefit had conferred office. 
There was that in them which office did not give, and which 
the relinquishment of office did not, and could not, take 
away. In their retirement, in the midst of their fellow- 
citizens, themselves private citizens, they enjoyed as high 
regard and esteem as when filling the most important places 
of public trust. 

There remained to Mr. Jefferson yet one other work of 
patriotism and beneficence, the establishment of a university 
in his native State. To this object he devoted years of inces¬ 
sant and anxious attention, and by the enlightened liberality 
of the Legislature of Virginia, and the cooperation of other 
able and zealous friends, he lived to see it accomplished. 
May all success attend this infant seminary ; and may those 
who enjoy its advantages, as often as their eyes shall rest on 
the neighboring height, recollect what they owe to their 
disinterested and indefatigable benefactor ; and may letters 
honor him who thus labored in the cause of letters ! 


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Thus useful, and thus respected, passed the old age of 
Thomas Jefferson. But time was on its ever-ceaseless 
wing, and was now bringing the last hour of this illustrious 
man. He saw its approach with undisturbed serenity. He 
counted the moments as they passed, and beheld that his 
last sands were falling. That day, too, was at hand which 
he had helped to make immortal. One wish, one hope, if it 
were not presumptous, beat in his fainting breast. Could it 
be so, might it please God, he would desire once more to 
see the sun, once more to look abroad on the scene around 
him, on the great day of liberty. Heaven, in its mercy, ful¬ 
filled that prayer. He saw that sun, he enjoyed its sacred 
light, he thanked God for this mercy, and bowed his aged 
head to the grave. “Felix, non vitae tantum claritate, sed 
etiam opportunitate mortis.” 

The last public labor of Mr. Jefferson naturally suggests 
the expression of the high praise which is due, both to him 
and to Mr. Adams, for their uniform «and zealous attachment 
to learning, and to the cause of general knowledge. Of the 
advantages of learning, indeed, and of literary accomplish¬ 
ments, their own characters were striking recommendations 
and illustrations. They were scholars, ripe and good schol¬ 
ars ; widely acquainted with ancient, as well as modern 
literature, and not altogether uninstructed in the deeper 
sciences. Their acquirements, doubtless, were different, 
and so were the particular objects of their literary pursuits ; 
as their tastes and characters, in these respects, differed like 
those of other men. Being, also, men of busy lives, with 
great objects requiring action constantly before them, their 
attainments in letters did not become showy or obtrusive. 
Yet I would hazard the opinion, that, if we could now as¬ 
certain all the causes which gave them eminence and dis¬ 
tinction in the midst of the great men with whom they 
acted, we should find not among the least their early acqui¬ 
sitions in literature, the resources which it furnished, the 
promptitude and facility which it communicated, and the 
wide field it opened for analogy and illustration ; giving them 
thus, on every subject, a larger view, and a broader range, as 
well for discussion as for the government of their own conduct. 

8 * 


00 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK, 

Literature sometimes disgusts, and pretension to it much 
oftener disgusts, by appearing to hang loosely on the char¬ 
acter, like something foreign or extraneous, not a part, but 
an ill-adjusted appendage ; or by seeming to overload and 
weigh it down by its unsightly bulk, like the productions of 
bad taste in architecture, where there is massy and cum¬ 
brous ornament without strength or solidity of column. This 
has exposed learning, and especially classical learning, to 
reproach. Men have seen that it might exist without men¬ 
tal superiority, without vigor, without good taste, and with¬ 
out utility. But in such cases classical learning has only 
not inspired natural talent, or, at most, it lias but made 
original feebleness of intellect, and natural bluntness of per¬ 
ception, something more conspicuous. The question, after 
all, if it be a question, is, whether literature, ancient as well 
as modern, does not assist a good understanding, improve 
natural good taste, add polished armor to native strength, 
and render its possessor, not only more capable of deriving 
private happiness from contemplation and reflection, but 
more accomplished also for action in the affairs of life, and 
especially for public action. Those whose memories we 
now honor were learned men ; but their learning was kept 
in its proper place, and made subservient to the uses and 
objects of life. They were scholars, not common nor super¬ 
ficial ; but their scholarship was so in keeping with their 
character, so blended and inwrought, that careless observers, 
or bad judges, not seeing an ostentatious display of it, might 
infer that it did not exist; forgetting, or not knowing, that 
classical learning in men who act in conspicuous public 
stations, perform duties which exercise the faculty of writ¬ 
ing, or address popular, deliberative, or judicial bodies, is 
often felt where it is little seen, and sometimes felt more 
effectually because it is not seen at all. 

But the cause of knowledge, in a more enlarged sense, 
the cause of general knowledge and of popular education, 
had no warmer friends, nor more powerful advocates, than 
Mr. Adatps and Mr. Jefferson. On this foundation they 
knew the whole republican system rested ; and this great and 
all-important truth they strove to impress, by all the means 


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in their power. In the early publication already referred 
to, Mr. Adams expresses the strong and just sentiment, that 
the education of the poor is more important, even to the 
rich themselves, than all their own riches. On this great 
truth, indeed, is founded that unrivalled, that invaluable 
political and moral institution, our own blessing and the 
glory of our fathers, the New England system of free 
schools. 

As the promotion of knowledge had been the object of 
their regard through life, so these great men made it the 
subject of their testamentary bounty. Mr. Jefferson is un¬ 
derstood to have bequeathed his library to the University of 
Virginia, and that of Mr. Adams is bestowed on the inhabit¬ 
ants of Quincy. 

No men, fellow-citizens, ever served their country wjth 
more entire exemption from every imputation of selfish and 
mercenary motives, than those to whose memory we are pay¬ 
ing these proofs of respect. A suspicion of any disposition to 
enrich themselves, or to profit by their public employments, 
never rested on either. No sordid motive approached them. 
The inheritance which they have left to their children is of 
their character and their fame. 

Fellow-citizens, I will detain you no longer by this faint 
and feeble tribute to the memory of the illustrious dead. 
Even in other hands, adequate justice could not be done to 
them, within the limits of this occasion. Their highest, 
their best praise, is your deep conviction of their merits, 
your affectionate gratitude for their labors and their services. 
It is not my voice, it is this cessation of ordinary pursuits, 
this arresting of all attention, these solemn ceremonies, and 
this crowded house, which speak their eulogy. Their fame, 
indeed, is safe. That is now treasured up beyond the 
reach of accident. Although no sculptured marble should 
rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear record of 
their deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting as the 
land they honored. Marble columns may, indeed, moulder 
into dust, time may erase all impress from the crumbling 
stone, but their fame remains; for with American liberty 
it rose, and with American liberty only can it perish. It 


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was the last swelling peal of yonder choir, “ Their bodies 

ARE BURIED IN PEACE, BUT THEIR NAME LIVETH EVER¬ 
MORE.” I catch that solemn song, I echo that lofty strain 
of funeral triumph, “ Their name liveth evermore.” 

And now, fellow-citizens, let us not retire from this oc¬ 
casion without a deep and solemn conviction of the duties 
which have devolved upon us. This lovely land, this glorious 
liberty, these benign institutions, the dear purchase of our 
fathers, are ours ; ours to enjoy, ours to preserve, ours to 
transmit. Generations past and generations to come hold 
us responsible for this sacred trust. Our fathers, from be¬ 
hind, admonish us, with their anxious paternal voices ; pos¬ 
terity calls out to us, from the bosom of the future; the 
world turns hither its solicitous eyes ; all, all conjure us to 
act wisely, and faithfully, in the relation which we sustain. 
We can never, indeed, pay the debt which is upon us; but 
by virtue, by morality, by religion, by the cultivation of every 
good principle, and every good habit, we may hope to en¬ 
joy the blessing, through our day, and to leave it unimpaired 
to our children. Let us feel deeply how much of what we 
are and of what we possess we owe to this liberty, and to these 
institutions of government. Nature has, indeed, given us a 
soil which yields bounteously to the hand of industry, the 
mighty and fruitful ocean is before us, and the skies over 
our heads shed health and vigor. But what are lands, and 
seas, and skies, to civilized man, without society, without 
knowledge, without morals, without religious culture ; and 
how can these be enjoyed, in all their extent, and all 
their excellence, but under the protection of wise insti¬ 
tutions and a free government 1 Fellow-citizens, there is 
not one of us, there is not one of us here present, who 
does not, at this moment, and at every moment, experi¬ 
ence, in his own condition, and in the condition of those 
most near and dear to him, the influence and the benefits 
of this liberty and these institutions. Let us then acknowl¬ 
edge the blessing, let us feel it deeply and powerfully, let 
us cherish a strong affection for it, and resolve to maintain 
and perpetuate it. The blood of our fathers, let it not have 
been shed in vain ; the great hope of posterity, let it not be 
blasted. 


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The striking attitude, too, in which we stand to the world 
around us, a topic to which, I fear, I advert too often, and 
dwell on too long, cannot be altogether omitted here. 
Neither individuals nor nations can perform their part well, 
until they understand and feel its importance, and compre¬ 
hend and justly appreciate all the duties belonging to it. It 
is not to inflate national vanity, nor to swell a light and 
empty feeling of self-importance, but it is that we may judge 
justly of our situation, and of our own duties, that I earnest¬ 
ly urge upon you this consideration of our position and our 
character among the nations of the earth. It cannot be 
denied, but by those who would dispute against the sun, that 
with America, and in America, a new era commences in 
human affairs. This era is distinguished by free represen¬ 
tative governments, by entire religious liberty, by improved 
systems of national intercourse, by a newly-awakened and 
an unconquerable spirit of free inquiry, and by a dif¬ 
fusion of knowledge through the community, such as has 
been before altogether unknown and unheard of. America, 
America, our country, fellow-citizens, our own dear and 
native land, is inseparably connected, fast bound up, in 
fortune and by fate, with these great interests. If they fall, 
we fall with them; if they stand, it will be because we have 
maintained them. Let us contemplate, then, this connection, 
which binds the prosperity of others to our own ; arid let 
us manfully discharge all the duties which it imposes. If 
we cherish the virtues and the principles of our fathers, 
Heaven will assist us to carry on the work of human liberty 
and human happiness. Auspicious omens cheer us. Great 
examples are before us. Our own firmament now shines 
brightly upon our path. Washington is in the clear, 
upper sky. These other stars have now joined the Ameri¬ 
can constellation ; they circle round their centre, and the 
heavens beam with new light. Beneath this illumination 
let us walk the course of life, and at its close devoutly com¬ 
mend our beloved country, the common parent of us all, to 
the Divine Benignity. 


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REVOLUTIONARY OFFICERS. 

Speech delivered in the Senate of the United States , on the 25 th of April, 1828, on the Bill 
for the Relief of the Surviving Officers of the Revolution. 

Mr. President, — It has not been my purpose to take 
any part in tiie discussion of this bill. My opinions in re¬ 
gard to its general object, I hope, are well known; and I 
had intended to content myself with a steady and persevering 
vote in its favor. But when the moment of final decision 
has come, and the division is so likely to be nearly equal, I 
feel it to be a duty to put, not only my own vote, but my 
own earnest wishes also, and my fervent entreaties to others, 
into the doubtful scale. 

It must be admitted, Sir, that the persons for whose 
benefit this bill is designed are, in some respects, peculiarly 
unfortunate. They are compelled to meet not only ob¬ 
jections to the principle, but, whichever way they turn 
themselves, embarrassing objections also to details. One 
friend hesitates at this provision, and another at that; while 
those who are not friends at all of course oppose every 
thing, and propose nothing. When it was contemplated, 
heretofore, to give the petitioners a sum outright in satisfac¬ 
tion of their claim, then the argument was, among other 
things, that the treasury could not bear so heavy a draught 
on its means at the present moment. The plan is accord¬ 
ingly changed; an annuity is proposed; and then the 
objection changes also. It is now said, that this is but 
granting pensions, and that the pension system has already 
been carried too far. I confess, Sir, I felt wounded, deeply 
hurt, at the observations of the gentleman from Georgia. 
“So, then,” said he, “these modest and high-minded gen¬ 
tlemen take a pension at last! ” How is it possible that a 
gentleman of his generosity of character, and general kind¬ 
ness of feeling, can indulge in such a tone of triumphant 
irony towards a few old, gray-headed, poor, and broken 
warriors of the Revolution ! There is, I know, something 
^repulsive and opprobrious in the name of pension. But God 
forbid that I should taunt them with it ! With grief, heart¬ 
felt grief, do 1 behold the necessity which leads these vet- 


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erans to accept the bounty of their country, in a manner not 
the most agreeable to their feelings. Worn out and decrepit, 
represented before us by those, their former brothers in 
arms, who totter along our lobbies, or stand leaning on their 
crutches, I, for one, would most gladly support such a meas¬ 
ure as should consult at once their services, their years, their 
necessities, and the delicacy of their sentiments. I would 
gladly give, with promptitude and grace, with gratitude 
and delicacy, that which merit has earned and necessity 
demands. 

Sir, what are the objections urged agairlst this bill 1 Let 
us look at them, and see if they be real; let us weigh them, 
to know if they be solid ; for we are not acting on a slight 
matter, nor is what we do likely to pass unobserved now, or 
to be forgotten hereafter. I regard the occasion as one full 
of interest and full of responsibility. Those individuals, the 
little remnant of a gallant band, whose days of youth arid 
manhood were spent for their country in the toils and dan¬ 
gers of the field, are now before us, poor and old — inti¬ 
mating their wants with reluctant delicacy, and asking succor 
from their country with decorous solicitude. IIow we shall 
treat them it behooves us well to consider, not only for their 
sake, but for our own sake also, and for the sake of the 
honor of the country. Whatever we do will not be done in 
a corner. Our constituents will see it; the people will see 
it; the world will see it. 

The bill is intended for those who, being in the army in 
October, 1780, then received a solemn promise of half pay 
for life, on condition that they would continue to serve 
through the war. Their ground of merit is, that, when¬ 
soever they joined the army, being thus solicited by their 
country to remain in it, they at once went for the whole; 
they fastened their fortunes to the standards which they hore, 
and resolved to continue their military service till it should 
terminate either in their country’s success or in their own 
death. This is their merit and their ground of claim. IIow 
long they had been already in service, is immaterial and un¬ 
important. They were. then in service; the salvation of 
their country depended on their continuing in that service. • 


96 


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Congress saw this imperative necessity, and earnestly solicit¬ 
ed them to remain, and promised the compensation. They 
saw the necessity also, and they yielded to it. 

I support the measure, then, Mr. President, because I 
think it a proper and judicious exercise of well-merited 
national bounty. I think, too, the general sentiment of my 
own constituents, and of the country, is in favor of it. I 
believe the m'ember from North Carolina himself admitted, 
that an increasing desire that something should be done for 
the Revolutionary officers manifested itself in the commu¬ 
nity. The bill will make no immediate or great draught 
on the treasury. It will not derange the finances. If I had 
supposed that the state of the treasury would have been 
urged against the passage of this bill, I should not have 
voted for the Delaware breakwater, because that might have 
been commenced next year; nor for the whole of the sums 
which have been granted for fortifications; for their ad¬ 
vancement with a little more or a little less of rapidity is not 
of the first necessity. But the present case is urgent. 
What we do should be done quickly. 

Mr. President, allow me to repeat, that neither the sub¬ 
ject nor the occasion is an ordinary one. Our own fellow- 
citizens do not so consider it ; the world will not so regard 
it. A few deserving soldiers are before us, who served their 
country faithfully through a seven years’ war. That war 
was a civil war. It was commenced on principle, and sus¬ 
tained by every sacrifice, on the great ground of civil liberty. 
They fought bravely, and bled freely. The cause succeeded, 
and the country triumphed. But the condition of things did 
not allow that country, sensible as it was to their services 
and merits, to do them the full justice which it desired. It 
could not entirely fulfil its engagements. The army was to 
be disbanded ; but it was unpaid. It was to lay down its 
own power; but there was no government with adequate 
power to perform what had been promised to it. In this 
critical moment, what is its conduct ? Does it disgrace its 
high character 1 Is temptation able to seduce it ? Does it 
speak of righting itself? Does it/ undertake to redress its 
own wrongs by its own sword ? Does it lose its patriotism 


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in its deep sense of injury and injustice ? Does military 
ambition cause its integrity to swerve ? Far; far otherwise. 

It had faithfully served and saved the country; and to 
that country it now referred, with unhesitating confidence, 
its claim and its complaints. It laid down its arms with 
alacrity ; it mingled itself with the mass of the community ; 
and it waited till, in better times, and under a new govern¬ 
ment, its services might be rewarded, and the promises made 
to it fulfilled. Sir, this example is worth more, far more, to 
the cause of civil liberty, than this bill will cost us. We 
can hardly recur to it too often, or dwell on it too much, for 
the honor of our country and of its defenders. Allow me 
to say, again, that meritorious service in civil war is wor¬ 
thy of peculiar consideration ; not only because there is, in 
such wars, usually less power to restrain irregularities, but 
because, also, they expose all prominent actors in them to 
different kinds of danger. It is rebellion as well as war. 
Those who engage in it must look, not only to the dangers 
of the field, but to confiscation also, and attainder, and igno¬ 
minious death. With no efficient and settled government, 
either to sustain or to control them, and with every sort of 
danger before them, it is great merit to have conducted 
themselves with fidelity to the country, under every dis¬ 
couragement on the one hand, and with unconquerable 
bravery towards the common enemy on the other. Such, 
Sir, was the conduct of the officers and soldiers of the Rev¬ 
olutionary army. 

1 would not, and do not, underrate the services or the suffer¬ 
ings of others. 1 know well, that in the Revolutionary con¬ 
test all made sacrifices, and all endured sufferings ; as well 
those who paid for service, as those who performed it. 1 
know.that, in the records of all the little municipalities of New 
England, abundant proof exists of the zeal with which the cause 
was espoused, and the sacrifices with which it was cheerfully 
maintained. 1 have often there read, with absolute astonish¬ 
ment, of the taxes, the contributions, the heavy subscriptions, 
sometimes provided for by disposing of the absolute neces¬ 
saries of life, by which enlistments were procured, and food 
and clothing furnished. It would be, Sir, to these same 
9 


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municipalities, to these same little patriotic councils of Rev¬ 
olutionary times, that I should now look, with most assured 
confidence, for a hearty support of what this bill proposes. 
There, the scale of Revolutionary merit stands high. There 
are still those living who speak of the 19th of April, and the 
17th of June, without thinking it necessary to add the year. 
These men, one and all, would rejoice to find that those 
who stood by the country bravely, through the doubtful and 
perilous struggle which conducted it to independence and 
glory, had not been forgotten in the decline and close of 
life. 

The objects, then, Sir, of the proposed bounty, are most 
worthy and deserving objects. The services which they 
rendered were in the highest degree useful and important. 
The country to which they rendered them is great and pros¬ 
perous. They have lived to see it glorious ; let them not 
live to see it unkind. For me, 1 can give them but my 
vote and my prayers; and 1 give them both with my whole 
heart. 

-4.- 

THE BOSTON MECHANICS’ INSTITUTION. 

Introductory Lecture , read at the Opening of the Course for the Season, on the 12 th of 

November, 1828. 

I appear before you, Gentlemen, for the performance of 
a duty which is in so great a degree foreign from my 
habitual studies and pursuits, that it may be presumptuous 
in me to hope for a creditable execution of the task. But 
I have not allowed considerations of this kind to weigh 
against a strong and ardent desire to signify my approbation 
of the objects, and my conviction of the utility, of this in¬ 
stitution ; and to manifest my prompt attention to whatever 
others may suppose to be in my power to promote its 
respectability and to further its designs. 

The constitution of the association declares its precise 
object to be, “ Mutual Instruction in the Sciences, as con¬ 
nected with the Mechanic Arts.” 

The distinct purpose is to connect science more and more 



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with art; to teach the established, and invent new, modes 
of combining skill with strength; to bring the power of the 
human understanding in aid of the physical powers of the 
human frame ; to facilitate the cooperation of the mind with 
the hand; to promote convenience, lighten labor, and miti¬ 
gate toil, by stretching the dominion of mind farther and 
farther over the elements of nature, and by making those 
elements themselves submit to human rule, follow human 
bidding, and work together for human happiness. 

The visible and tangible creation into which we are in¬ 
troduced at our birth, is not, in all its parts, fixed and 
stationary. Motion or change of place, regular or occa¬ 
sional, belongs to all or most of the things which are around 
us. Animal life every where moves ; the earth itself has its 
motion, and its complexities of motion ; the ocean heaves 
and subsides ; rivers run, lingering or rushing, to the sea; 
and the air which we breathe moves and acts with mighty 
power. Motion, thus pertaining to the physicial objects 
which surround us, is the exhaustless fountain whence philos¬ 
ophy draws the means by which, in various degrees and 
endless forms, natural agencies and the tendencies of inert 
matter are brought to the succor and assistance of human 
strength. It is the object of mechanical contrivance to 
modify motion, to produce it in new forms, to direct it to 
new purposes, to multiply its uses, by its means to do better 
that which human strength could do without its aid, and to 
perform that, also, which such strength, unassisted by art, 
could not perform. 

Motion itself is but the result of force ; or, in other 
words, force is defined to be whatever tends to produce 
motion. The operation of forces, therefore, on bodies, is 
the broad field which is open for that philosophical examina¬ 
tion, the results of which it is the business of mechanical 
contrivance to apply. The leading forces or sources of 
motion are, as is well known, the power of animals, gravity, 
heat, the winds, and water. There are various others of 
less power, or of more difficult application. Mechanical 
philosophy, therefore, may be said to be that science which 
instructs us in the knowledge of natural moving powers, 


100 


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animate or inanimate ; in the manner of modifying those 
powers, and of increasing the intensity of some of them by 
artificial means, such as heat and electricity; and in apply¬ 
ing the varieties of force and motion, thus derived from 
natural agencies, to the arts of life. This is the object of 
mechanical philosophy. None can doubt, certainly, the high 
importance of this sort of knowledge, or fail to see how 
suitable it is to the elevated rank and the dignity of reason¬ 
ing beings. Man’s grand distinction is his intellect, his 
mental capacity. It is this which renders him highly and 
peculiarly responsible to his Creator. It is on account of 
this, that the rule over other animals is established in his 
hands ; and it is this, mainly, which enables him to exercise 
dominion over the powers of nature, and to subdue them to 
himself. 

But it is true, also, that his own animal organization gives 
him superiority, and is among the most wonderful of the 
works of God on earth. It contributes to cause, as well as 
prove, his elevated rank in creation. His port is erect, his 
face toward heaven, and he is furnished with limbs which 
are not absolutely necessary to his support or locomotion, 
and which are at once powerful, flexible, capable of innu¬ 
merable modes and varieties of action, and terminated by 
an instrument of wonderful, heavenly workmanship—the 
human hand. This marvellous physical conformation gives 
man the power of acting with great effect upon external 
objects, in pursuance of the suggestions of his understand¬ 
ing, and of applying the results of his reasoning power to 
his own purposes. Without this particular formation, he 
would not be man, with whatever sagacity he might have 
been endowed. N.o bounteous grant of intellect, were it 
the pleasure of Heaven to make such grant, could raise 
any of the brute creation to an equality with the human 
race. Were it bestowed on the leviathan, he must remain, 
nevertheless, in the element where alone he could maintain 
his physical existence. He would still be but the inelegant, 
misshapen inhabitant of the ocean, “ wallowing unwieldy, 
enormous in his gait.” Were the elephant made to possess 
it, it would but teach him the deformity of his own struc- 


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ture, the unsightliness of his frame, though “ the hugest of 
things,” his disability to act on external matter, and the de¬ 
grading nature of his own physical wants, which lead him to 
the deserts, and give him for his favorite home the torrid 
plains of the tropics. It was placing the king of Babylon 
sufficiently out of the rank of human beings, though he car¬ 
ried all his reasoning faculties with him, when he was sent 
away to eat grass like an ox. And this may properly sug¬ 
gest to our consideration, what is undeniably true, that there 
is hardly a greater blessing conferred on man than his nat¬ 
ural wants. If he had wanted no more than the beasts, who 
can say how much more than they he would have attained ? 
Does he associate, does *he cultivate, does he build, does he 
navigate 1 The original impulse to all these lies in his wants, 
it proceeds from the necessities of his condition, and from 
the efforts of unsatisfied desire. Every want, not of a low 
kind, physical as well as moral, which the human breast 
feels, and which brutes do not feel and cannot feel, raises 
man by so much in the scale of existence, and is a clear 
proof and a direct instance of the favor of God towards his 
so much favored human offspring. If man had been so 
made as to desire nothing, he would have wanted almost 
every thing worth possessing. 

But doubtless the reasoning faculty, the mind, is the lead¬ 
ing and characteristic attribute of the human race. By the 
exercise of this, man arrives at the knowledge of the prop¬ 
erties of natural bodies. This is science, properly and 
emphatically so called. It is the science of pure mathe¬ 
matics ; and in the high branches of this science lies the true 
sublime of human acquisition. If any attainment deserve 
that epithet, it is the knowledge, which, from the mensuration 
of the minutest dust of the balance, proceeds on the rising 
scale of material bodies, every where weighing, every where 
measuring, every where detecting and explaining the laws of 
force and motion, penetrating into the secret principles which 
hold the universe of God together, and balancing world 
against world, and system against system. When we seek to 
accompany those who pursue studies at once so high, so vast, 
and so exact; when we arrive at the discoveries of Newton, 
9 * 


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w hich pour in day on the works of God, as if a second fiat 
for light had gone forth from his own mouth; when, further, 
we attempt to follow those who set out where Newton 
paused, making his goal their starting-place, and, proceed¬ 
ing with demonstration upon demonstration, and discovery 
upon discovery, bring new worlds and new systems of 
worlds within the limits of the known universe, failing to 
learn all only because all is infinite ; however we say of 
man, in admiration of his physical structure, that “ in form 
and moving he is express and admirable,” it is here, and 
here without irreverence, we may exclaim, “in apprehen¬ 
sion how like a god ! ” The study of the pure mathe¬ 
matics will of course not be extensively pursued in an in¬ 
stitution, which, like this, has a direct practical tendency and 
aim. But it is still to be remembered, that pure mathe¬ 
matics lie at the foundation of mechanical philosophy, and 
that it is ignorance only which can speak or think of that 
sublime science as useless research or barren speculation. 

But if the history of the progress of the mechanical arts 
be interesting, still more so, doubtless, would be the exhibi¬ 
tion of their present state, and a full display of the extent 
to which they are now carried. This field is much too wide 
to be entered on this occasion. The briefest outline even 
would exceed its limits ; and the whole subject will regu¬ 
larly fall to hands much more able to sustain it. The 
slightest glance, however, must convince us that mechanical 
power and mechanical skill, as they are now exhibited in 
Europe and America, mark an epoch in human history 
worthy of all admiration. Machinery is made to perform 
what has formerly been the toil of human hands, to an ex¬ 
tent that astonishes the most sanguine, with a degree of 
power to which no number of human arms is equal, and 
with such precision and exactness as almost to suggest the 
notion of reason and intelligence in the machines them¬ 
selves. Every natural agent is put unrelentingly to the 
task. The winds work, the waters work, the elasticity of 
metals works; gravity is solicited into a thousand new forms 
of action; levers are multiplied upon levers ; wheels revolve 
on the peripheries of other wheels ; the saw and the plane 


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103 


are tortured into an accommodation to new uses, and, last 
of all, with inimitable power, and “ with whirlwind sound,” 
conies the potent agency of steam. In comparison with 
the past, what centuries of improvement has this single 
agent comprised, in the short compass of fifty years ! 
Every where practicable, every where efficient, it has an 
arm a thousand times stronger than that of Hercules, and to 
which human ingenuity is capable of fitting a thousand 
times as many hands as belonged to Briareus. Steam is 
found in triumphant operation on the seas ; and under the 
influence of its strong propulsion, the gallant ship,— 

“•Against the wind, against the tide, 

Still steadies, with an upright keel.” 

It is on the rivers, and the boatman may repose on his oars ; 
it is on highways, and begins to exert itself along the courses 
of land conveyance; it is at the bottom of mines, a thou¬ 
sand feet below the earth’s surface; it is in the mill, and in 
the workshops of the trades. It rows, it pumps, it exca¬ 
vates, it carries, it draws, it lifts, it hammers, it spins, it 
weaves, it prints. It seems to say to men, at least to the 
class of artisans, “ Leave off your manual labor, give over 
your bodily toil; bestow but your skill and reason to the 
directing of my power, and I will bear the toil — with no 
muscle to grow weary, no nerve to relax, no breast to feel 
faintness.” What further improvements may still be made 
in the use of this astonishing power, it is impossible to 
know, and it were vain to conjecture. What we do know 
is, that it has most essentially altered the face of affairs, and 
that no visible limit yet appears, beyond which its progress 
is seen to be impossible. If its power were now to be an¬ 
nihilated, if we were to miss it on the water and in the 
mills, it would seem as if we were going back to rude ages. 

New taste and a new excitement are evidently springing 
u,p in our vicinity in regard to an art, which, as it. unites in 
a singular degree utility and beauty, affords inviting en¬ 
couragements to genius and skill. I mean Architecture. 
Architecture is military, naval, sacred, civil, or domestic. 
Naval architecture, certainly, is of the highest importance to 


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a commercial and navigating people, to say nothing of its 
intimate and essential connection with the means of national 
defence. This science should not be regarded as having 
already reached its utmost perfection. It seems to have 
been for some time in a course of rapid advancement. The 
building, the rigging, the navigating of ships, have, within 
the knowledge of every one, been subjects of great im¬ 
provement within the last fifteen years. And where, rather 
than in New England, may still further improvements be 
looked for 1 Where is ship building either a greater busi¬ 
ness, or pursued with more skill and eagerness 1 

In civil, sacred, and domestic architecture, present ap¬ 
pearances authorize the strongest hopes of improvement. 
These hopes rest, among other things, on unambiguous indi¬ 
cations of the growing prevalence of a just taste. The 
principles of architecture are founded in nature, or good 
sense, as much as the principles of epic poetry. This art 
constitutes a beautiful medium between what belongs to 
mere fancy and what belongs entirely to the exact sciences. 
In its forms and modifications it admits of infinite variation, 
giving broad room for invention and genius; while, in its 
general principles, it is founded on that which long expe¬ 
rience and the concurrent judgment of ages have ascertained 
to be generally pleasing. Certain relations of parts to parts 
have been satisfactory to all the cultivated generations of 
men. These relations constitute what is called proportion , 
and this is the great basis of architectural art. This estab¬ 
lished proportion is not to be followed merely because it is 
ancient, but because its use, and the pleasure which it has 
been found capable of giving to the mind, through the eye, 
in ancient times, and modern times, and all civilized times, 
prove that its principles are well founded and just; in the 
same manner that the Iliad is proved, by the consent of all 
ages, to be a good poem. 

Architecture, I have said, is an art that unites in a singu 
lar manner the useful and the beautiful. It is not to be in¬ 
ferred from this that every thing in architecture is beautiful, 
or is to be so esteemed, in exact proportion to its apparent 
utility. No more is meant, than that nothing which evi- 



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dently thwarts utility can or ought to be accounted beautiful; 
because, in every work of art, the design is to be regarded, 
and what defeats that design cannot be considered as well 
done. The French rhetoricians have a maxim, that, in lit¬ 
erary composition, “ nothing is beautiful which is not true.” 
They do not intend to say, that strict and literal truth is 
alone beautiful in poetry or oratory; but they mean, that 
that which grossly offends against probability is not in good 
taste in either. The same relation subsists between beauty 
and utility in architecture as between truth and imagination in 
poetry. Utility is not to be obviously sacrificed to beauty, 
in the one case ; truth and probability are not to be out¬ 
raged for the cause of fiction and fancy, in the other. In 
the severer styles of architecture, beauty and utility approach 
so as to be almost identical. Where utility is more espe¬ 
cially the main design, the proportions which produce it 
raise the sense or feeling of beauty, by a sort of reflection 
or deduction of the mind. It is said that' ancient Rome had 
perhaps. no finer specimens of the classic Doric than the 
sewers which ran under her streets, and which were of 
course always to be covered from human observation ; so 
true is it, that cultivated taste is always pleased with justness 
of proportion ; and that design, seen to be accomplished, 
gives pleasure. The discovery and fast-increasing use of a 
noble material, found in vast abundance nearer to our city 
than the Pentelican quarries to Athens, may well awaken, as 
they do, new attention to architectural improvement. If 
this material be not entirely well suited to the elegant Ionic 
or the rich Corinthian, it is yet fitted, beyond marble, be¬ 
yond perhaps almost any other material, for the Doric, of 
which the appropriate character is strength, and for the 
Gothic, of which the appropriate character is grandeur. 

It is not more than justice, perhaps, to our ancestors, to 
call the Gothic the English classic architecture ; for in Eng¬ 
land, probably, are its most distinguished specimens. As its 
leading characteristic is grandeur, its main use would seem 
to be sacred. It had its origin, indeed, in ecclesiastical 
architecture. Its evident design was to surpass the ancient 
orders by the size of the structure and its far greater 


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heights; to excite perceptions of beauty by the branching 
traceries and the gorgeous tabernacles within; and to in¬ 
spire religious awe and reverence by the lofty pointed arches, 
the flying buttresses, the spires, and the pinnacles, springing 
from beneath, and stretching upwards towards the heavens 
with the prayers of the worshippers. Architectural beauty 
having always a direct reference to utility, edifices, whether 
civil or sacred, must # of course undergo different changes, in 
different places, on account of climate, and in different ages, 
on account of the different states of other arts or different 
notions of convenience. The hypethral temple, for exam¬ 
ple, or temple without a roof, is not to be thought of in our 
latitude ; and the use of glass, a thing not now to be dis¬ 
pensed with, is also to be accommodated, as well as it may 
be, to the architectural structure. These necessary varia¬ 
tions, and many more admissible ones, give room for 
improvements to an indefinite extent, without departing 
from the principles of true taste. May we not hope, then, 
to see our own city celebrated as the city of architectural 
excellence ? May we not hope to see our native granite 
reposing in the ever-during strength of the Doric, or spring¬ 
ing up in the grand and lofty Gothic, in forms which beauty 
and utility, the eye and the judgment, taste and devotion, 
shall unite to approve and to admire ? But while we regard 
sacred and civil architecture as highly important, let us not 
forget that other branch, so essential to personal comfort 
and happiness — domestic architecture, or common house 
building. In ancient times, in all governments, and under 
despotic governments in all times, the convenience or grati¬ 
fication of the monarch, the government, or the public has 
been allowed too often to put aside considerations of per¬ 
sonal and individual happiness. With us, different ideas 
happily prevail. With us, it is not the public, or the gov¬ 
ernment, in its corporate character, that is the only object 
of regard. The public happiness is to be the aggregate of 
the happiness of individuals. Our system begins with the 
individual man. It begins with him when he leaves the 
cradle; and it proposes to instruct him in knowledge and in 
morals, to prepare him for his state of manhood ; on his 


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arrival at that state, to invest him with political rights, to 
protect him in his property and pursuits, and in his family 
and social connections; and thus to enable him to enjoy, 
as an individual moral and rational being, what belongs 
to a moral and rational being. For the same reason, 
the arts are to be promoted for their general utility, 4 as 
they affect the personal happiness and well being of the indi¬ 
viduals who compose the community. It would be adverse 
to the whole*spirit of our system, that we should have gor¬ 
geous and expensive public buildings, if individuals were at 
the same time to live in houses of mud. Our public edi¬ 
fices are to be reared by the surplus of wealth and the sav¬ 
ings of labor, after the necessities and comforts of individ¬ 
uals are provided for; and not, like the Pyramids, by the 
unremitted toil of thousands of half-starved slaves. Domes¬ 
tic architecture, therefore, as connected with individual com¬ 
fort and happiness, is to hold a first place in the esteem of 
our artists. Let our citizens have houses cheap, but com¬ 
fortable ; not gaudy, but in good taste; not judged by the 
portion of earth they cover, but by their symmetry, their fit¬ 
ness for use, and their durability. 

Without further reference to particular arts with which 
the objects of this society have a close connection, it may 
yet be added, generally, that this is a period of great activ¬ 
ity, of industry, of enterprise in the various walks of life. 
It is a period, too, of growing wealth and increasing pros¬ 
perity. It is a time when men are fast multiplying, but 
when means are increasing still faster than men. An 
auspicious moment, then, it is, full of motive and encourage¬ 
ment, for the vigorous prosecution of those inquiries which 
have for their object the discovery of further and further 
means of uniting the results of scientific research to the arts 
and business of life. 


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SPEECH ON FOOT’S RESOLUTION. % 

Delivered, in the Senate of the United States on the 26tA of January, 1830. 

On the 29th Of December, 1829, a resolution was moved by Mr. Foot, 
one of the Senators from Connecticut. On the 18th of January, Mr. 
Benton, of Missouri, addressed the Senate on the subject of the resolu¬ 
tion. On the 19th, Mr. Hayne, of South Carolina, spoke at considera¬ 
ble length. After he had concluded, Mr. Webster rose to reply, but 
gave way on motion of Mr. Benton for an adjournment. On the 20th 
Mr. Webster spoke, and having concluded his first speech, Mr. Benton 
spoke in reply, on the 20th and 21st of January, 1830. Mr. Hayne, of 
South Caiolina, followed on the same side, and on Monday, the 25th, 
concluded his argument. The next day (26th January, 1830) Mr. 
Webster took the floor. 

Mr. President, — When the mariner has been tossed for 
many days in thick weather, and on an unknown sea, he 
naturally avails himself of the first pause in the storm, the 
earliest glance of the sun, to take his latitude, and ascertain 
how far the elements have driven him from his true course. 
Let us imitate this prudence, and, before we float farther on 
the waves of this debate, refer to the point from which we 
departed, that we may at least be able to conjecture where 
we now are. I ask for the reading of the resolution before 
the Senate. 

The Secretary read the resolution, as follows : — 

“ Resolved , That the Committee on Public Lands be instructed to 
inquire and report the quantity of public lands remaining unsold within 
each State and Territory, and whether it be expedient to limit for a cer¬ 
tain period the sales of the public lands to such lands only as have 
heretofore been offered for sale, and are now subject to entry at the min¬ 
imum price. , And, also, whether the office of Surveyor General, and 
some of the land offices, may not be abolished without detriment to the 
public interest; or whether it be expedient to adopt measures to hasten 
the sales and extend more rapidly the surveys of the public lands.” 

We have thus heard, Sir, what the resolution is which is 
actually before us for consideration; and it will readily 
occur to every one, that it is almost the only subject about 
which something has not been said in the speech, running 


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through two days, by which the Senate has been entertained 
by the gentleman from South Carolina. Every topic in the 
wide range of our public affairs, whether past or present,— 
every thing, general or local, whether belonging to national 
politics or party politics, — seems to have attracted more or 
less of the honorable member’s attention, save only the res¬ 
olution before the Senate. He has spoken of every thing 
but the public lands; they have escaped his notice. To 
that subject, in all his excursions, he has not paid even the 
cold respect of a passing glance. 

When this debate, Sir, was to be resumed, on Thursday 
morning, it so happened that it would have been convenient 
for me to be elsewhere. The honorable member, however, 
did not incline to put off the discussion to another day. He 
had a shot, he said, to return, and he wished to discharge it. 
That shot, Sir, which he thus kindly informed us was com¬ 
ing, that we might stand out of the way, or prepare our¬ 
selves to fall by it and die with decency, has now been re¬ 
ceived. Under all advantages, and with expectation awa¬ 
kened by the tone which preceded it, it has been discharged, 
and has spent its force. It may become me to say no more 
of its effect, than that, if nobody is found, after all, either 
killed or wounded, it is not the first time, in the history of 
human affairs, that the vigor and success of the war have 
not quite come up to the lofty and sounding phrase of the 
manifesto. 

The gentleman, Sir, in declining to postpone the debate, 
told the Senate, with the emphasis of his hand upon his 
heart, that there was something rankling here , which he 
wished to relieve. [Mr. Hayne rose, and disclaimed having 
used the word rankling .] It would not, Mr. President, be 
safe for the honorable member to appeal to those around 
him, upon the question whether he did in fact make use of 
that word. Hut he may have been unconscious of it. At 
any rate, it is enough that he disclaims it. But still, with or 
without the use of that particular word, he had yet some¬ 
thing here* he said, of which he wished to rid himself by an 
immediate reply. In this respect, Sir, I have a great advan¬ 
tage over the honorable gentleman. There is nothing here % 
10 


110 


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Sir, which gives me the slightest uneasiness; neither fear, 
nor anger, nor that which is sometimes more troublesome 
than either, the consciousness of having been in the wrong. 
There is nothing, either originating here , or now received 
here by the gentleman’s shot. Nothing originating here, for 
I had not the slightest feeling of unkindness towards the 
honorable member. Some passages, it is true, had occurred 
since our acquaintance in this body, which I could have 
wished might have been otherwise; but I had used philoso¬ 
phy and forgotten them. I paid the honorable member the 
attention of listening with respect to his first speech; and 
when he sat down, though surprised, and I must even say 
astonished, at some of his opinions, nothing was farther from 
my intention than to commence any personal warfare. 
Through the whole of the few remarks I made in answer, I 
avoided, studiously and carefully, every thing which I thought 
possible to be construed into disrespect. And, Sir, while 
there is thus nothing originating here which I have wished at 
any time, or now wish, to discharge, I must repeat, also, 
that nothing has been received here which rankles , or in any 
way gives me annoyance. I will not accuse the honorable 
member of violating the rules of civilized war; I will not 
say, that he poisoned his arrows. But whether his shafts 
were, or were not, dipped in that which would have caused 
rankling if they had reached their destination, there was not, 
as it happened, quite strength enough in the bow to bring 
them to their mark. If he wishes now to gather up those 
shafts, he must look for them elsewhere; they will not be 
found fixed and quivering in the object at which they were 
aimed. 

The honorable member complained that I had slept on 
his speech. 1 must have slept on it, or not slept at all. 
The moment the honorable member sat down, his friend 
from Missouri rose, and, with much honeyed commendation 
of the speech, suggested that the impressions which it had 
produced were too charming and delightful to be disturbed 
by other sentiments or other sounds, and proposed that the 
Senate should adjourn. Would it have been quite amiable 
in me, Sir, to interrupt this excellent good feeling ? Must 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


Ill 


I not have been absolutely malicious, if I could have thrust 
myself forward, to destroy sensations thus pleasing? Was 
it not much better and kinder, both to sleep upon them my¬ 
self, and to allow others also the pleasure of sleeping upon 
them ? But if it be meant, by sleeping upon his speech, 
that I took time to prepare a reply to it, it is quite a mis¬ 
take. Owing to other engagements, I could not employ 
even the interval between the adjournment of the Senate and 
its meeting the next morning, in attention to the subject of 
this debate. Nevertheless, Sir, the mere matter of fact is 
undoubtedly true. I did sleep on the gentleman’s speech, 
and slept soundly. And I slept equally well on his speech 
of yesterday, to which I am now replying. It is quite pos¬ 
sible that in this respect, also, I possess some advantage over 
the honorable member, attributable, doubtless, to a cooler 
temperament on my part; for, in truth, I slept upon his 
speeches remarkably well. 

But the gentleman inquires why he was made the object 
of such a reply. Why was he singled out ? If an attack 
has been made on the East, he, he assures us, did not begin 
it; it was made by the gentleman from Missouri. Sir, I 
answered the gentleman’s speech because I happened to 
hear it; and because, also, I chose to* give an answer to that 
speech, which, if unanswered, I thought most likely to pro¬ 
duce injurious impressions. I did not stop to inquire who 
was the original drawer of the bill. I found a responsible 
indorser before me, and it was my purpose to hold him lia¬ 
ble, and to bring him to his just responsibility, without de¬ 
lay. But, Sir, this interrogatory of the honorable member 
was only introductory to another. lie proceeded to ask me 
whether I had turned upon him, in this debate, from the con¬ 
sciousness that I should find an overmatch, if I ventured on 
a contest with his friend from Missouri. If, Sir, the honor¬ 
able member, modcstice gratia , had chosen thus to defer to 
his friend, and to pay him a compliment, without intentional 
disparagement to others, it would have been quite according 
to the friendly courtesies of debate, and not at all ungrate¬ 
ful to my own feelings. I am not one of those, Sir, who 
esteem any tribute of regard, wdiether light and occasional, 


112 


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or more serious and deliberate, which may be bestowed on 
others, as so much unjustly withholden from themselves. 
But the tone and manner of the gentleman’s question forbid 
me thus to interpret it. I am not at liberty to consider it as 
nothing more than a civility to his friend. It had an air of 
taunt and disparagement, something of the loftiness of assert¬ 
ed superiority, which does not allow me to pass it over with¬ 
out notice. It was put as a question for me to answer, and 
so put as if it were difficult for me to answer, whether I 
deemed the member from Missouri an overmatch for myself, 
in debate here. It seems to me, Sir, that this is extraordi¬ 
nary language, and an extraordinary tone, for the discus¬ 
sions of this body. 

Matches and overmatches ! Those terms are more appli¬ 
cable elsewhere tjian here, and fitter for other assemblies 
than this. Sir, the gentleman seems to forget where and 
what we are. This is a Senate, a Senate of equals, of men 
of individual honor and personal character, and of absolute 
independence. We know no masters, we acknowledge no 
dictators. This is a hall for mutual consultation and discus¬ 
sion; not an arena for the exhibition of champions. I offer 
myself, Sir, as a match for no man ; I throw the challenge 
of debate at no man’s feet. But then, Sir, since the honor¬ 
able member has put the question in a manner that calls for 
an answer, I will give him an answer; &nd I tell him, that, 
holding myself to be the humblest of the members here, I 
yet know nothing in the arm of his friend from Missouri, 
either alone or when aided by the arm of his friend from 
South Carolina, that need deter even me from espousing 
whatever opinions I may choose to espouse, from debating 
whenever I may choose to debate, or from speaking what¬ 
ever I may see fit to say, on the floor of the Senate. Sir, 
when uttered as matter of commendation or compliment, I 
should dissent from nothing which the honorable member 
might say of his friend. Still less do I put forth any pre¬ 
tensions of my own. But when put to me as matter of 
taunt, I throw it back, and say to the gentleman, that he 
could possibly say nothing less likely than such a compari¬ 
son to wound my pride of personal character. The anger 


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of its tone rescued the remark from intentional irony, which 
otherwise, probably, would have been its general accepta¬ 
tion. But, Sir, if it be imagined that by this mutual quota¬ 
tion and commendation ; if it be supposed that, by casting 
the characters of the drama, assigning to each his part, to 
one the attack, to another the cry of onset; or if it be 
thought that, by a loud and empty vaunt of anticipated vic¬ 
tory, any laurels are to be won here; if it be imagined, 
especially, that any, or all these things will shake any pur¬ 
pose of mine, I can tell the honorable member, once for all, 
that he is greatly mistaken, and that he is dealing with one 
of whose temper and character he has yet much to learn. 
Sir, I shall not allow myself, on this occasion, I hope on no 
occasion, to be betrayed into any loss of temper; but if 
provoked, as I trust I never shall be, into crimination and 
recrimination, the honorable member may perhaps find that, 
in that contest, there will be blows to take as well as blows 
to give; that others can state comparisons as significant, at 
least, as his own, and that his impunity may possibly demand 
of him whatever powers of taunt and sarcasm he may pos¬ 
sess. I commend him to a prudent husbandry of his re¬ 
sources. 

The real question between me and him is, Has the doc¬ 
trine been advanced at the South or the East, that the 
population of the West should be retarded, or at least need 
not be hastened, on account of its effect to drain oft’ the 
people from the Atlantic States 1 Is this doctrine, as has 
been alleged, of Eastern origin 1 That is the question. 
Has the gentleman found any thing by which he can make 
good his accusation 1 I submit to the Senate, that he has 
entirely failed; and, as far as this debate has shown, the only 
person who has advanced such sentiments is a gentleman 
from South Carolina, and a friend of the honorable member 
himself. The honorable gentleman has given no answer 
to this; there is none which can be given. The simple fact, 
while it requires no comment to enforce it, defies all argu¬ 
ment to refute it. I could refer to the speeches of another 
Southern gentleman, in years before, of the same general 
character, and to the same effect, as that which has been 
10 * 


I 


114 


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quoted; but I will not consume the time of the Senate by 
the reading of them. 

So then, Sir, New England is guiltless of the policy of 
retarding Western population, and of all envy and jealousy 
of the growth of the new States. Whatever there be of that 
policy in the country, no part of it is hers. If it has a local 
habitation, the honorable member has probably seen by this 
time where to look for it; and if it now has received a name, 
he has himself christened it. 

We approach, at length, Sir, to a more important part 
of the honorable gentleman’s observations. Since it does 
not accord with my views of justice and policy to give away 
the public lands altogether, as a mere matter of gratuity, I 
am asked by the honorable gentleman on what ground it is 
that I consent to vote them away in particular instances. 
How, he inquires, do I reconcile with these professed senti¬ 
ments, my support of measures appropriating portions of 
the lands to particular roads, particular canals, particular 
rivers, and particular institutions of education in the West ? 
This leads, Sir, to the real and wide difference in political 
opinion between the honorable gentleman and myself. On 
my part, I look upon all these objects as connected with the 
common good, fairly embraced in its object and its terms; 
be, on the contrary, deems them all, if good at all, only 
local good. This is our difference. The interrogatory 
which he proceeded to put, at once explains this difference. 
“ What interest,” asks he, “ has South Carolina in a 
canal in Ohio 1 ” Sir, this very question is full of signifi¬ 
cance. It develops the gentleman’s whole political system ; 
and its answer expounds mine. Here we differ. I look 
upon a road over the Alleghanies, a canal round the falls of 
the Ohio, or a canal or railway from the Atlantic to the West¬ 
ern waters, as being an object large and extensive enough 
to be fairly said to be for the common benefit. The gentle¬ 
man thinks otherwise, and this is the key to his construction 
of the powers of the government. He may well ask what 
interest has South Carolina in a canal in Ohio. On his 
system, it is true, she has no interest. On that system Ohio 
and Carolina are different governments, and different coun- 


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115 


tries ; connected here, it is true, by some slight and ill- 
defined bond of union, but in all main respects separate and 
diverse. On that system, Carolina has no more interest in 
a canal in Ohio than in Mexico. The gentleman, therefore, 
only follows out his own principles; he does no more than 
arrive at the natural conclusions of his own doctrines; he 
only announces the true results of that creed which he has 
adopted himself, and would persuade others to adopt, when 
he thus declares that South Carolina has no interest in a 
public work in Ohio. 

Sir, we narrow-minded people of New England do not 
reason thus. Our notion of tilings is entirely different. We 
look upon the States, not as separated, but as united. We 
love to dwell on that union, and on the mutual happiness 
which it has so much promoted, and the common renown 
which it has so greatly contributed to acquire. In our con¬ 
templation, Carolina and Ohio are parts of the same country; 
States, united under the same general government, having 
interests, common, associated, intermingled. In whatever is 
within the proper sphere of the constitutional power of this 
government, we look upon the States as orife. We do not 
impose geographical limits to our patriotic feeling or regard; 
we do not follow rivers and mountains, and lines of latitude, 
to find boundaries, beyond which public improvements do 
not benefit us. We who come here, as agents and representa¬ 
tives of these narrow-minded and selfish men of New England, 
consider ourselves as bound to regard with an equal eye the 
good of the whole, in whatever is within our powers of legis¬ 
lation. Sir, if a railroad or canal, beginning in South Carolina 
and ending in South Carolina, appeared to me to be of 
national importance and national magnitude, believing, as I 
do, that the power of government extends to the encouragement 
of works of that description, if I were to stand up here and 
ask, What interest has Massachusetts in a railroad in South 
Carolina ? I should not be willing to face my constituents. 
These same narrow-minded men would tell me, that they 
had sent me to act for the whole country, and that one who 
possessed too little comprehension, either of intellect or 
feeling, one who was not large enough, both in mind and in 


116 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK, 

heart, to embrace the whole, was not fit to be intrusted with 
the interest of any part. 

Sir, I do not desire to enlarge the powers of the govern¬ 
ment by unjustifiable construction, nor to exercise any not 
within a fair interpretation. But when it is believed that a 
power does exist, then it is, in my judgment, to be exercised 
for the general benefit of the whole. So far as respects the 
exercise of such a power, the States are one. It was the 
very object of the Constitution to create unity of interests 
to the extent of the powers of the general government. In 
war and peace we are one; in commerce, one ; because 
the authority of the general government reaches to war and 
peace, and to the regulation of commerce. I have never 
seen any more difficulty in erecting lighthouses on the lakes, 
than on the ocean ; in improving the harbors of inland seas, 
than if they were within the ebb and flow of the tide ; or 
in removing obstructions in the vast streams of the West, 
more than in any work to facilitate commerce on the Atlan¬ 
tic coast. If there be any power for one, there is power 
also for the other ; and they are all and equally for the 
common good of the country. 

Mr. President, I shall not, it will not, I trust, be expect¬ 
ed that I should, either now or at any time, separate this 
farrago into parts, and answer and examine its components, 
I shall barely bestow upon it all a general remark or two. 
In the run of forty years, Sir, under this Constitution, we 
have experienced sundry successive violent party contests. 
Party arose, indeed, with the Constitution itself, and, in 
some form or other, has attended it through the greater part 
of its history. Whether any other constitution than the old 
Articles of Confederation was desirable, was itself a question 
on which parties divided ; if a new constitution were framed, 
what powers should be given to it was another question $ 
and when it had been formed, what was, in fact, the just 
extent of the powers actually conferred was a third. Par¬ 
ties, as we know, existed under the first administration, as 
distinctly marked as those which have manifested themselves 
at any subsequent period. The contest immediately pre¬ 
ceding the political change in 1801, and that, again, which 


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existed at the commencement of the late war, are other in¬ 
stances of party excitement, of something more than usual 
strength and intensity. In all these conflicts there was, no 
doubt, much of violence on both and all sides. It would 
be impossible, if one had a fancy for such employment, to 
adjust the relative quantum of violence between these con¬ 
tending parties. There was enough in each, as must always 
be expected in popular governments. With a great deal of 
popular and decorous discussion, there was mingled a great 
deal, also, of declamation, virulence, crimination, and abuse. 
In regard to any party, probably, at one of the leading 
epochs in the history of parties, enough may be found to 
make out another inflamed exhibition, not unlike that with 
which the honorable member has edified us. For myself, 
Sir, I shall not rake among the rubbish of by-gone times, to 
see what I can find, or whether I cannot find something by 
which I can fix a blot on the escutcheon of any State, any 
party, or any part of the country. General Washington’s 
administration was steadily and zealously maintained, as we 
all know, by New England. It was violently opposed else¬ 
where. We know in what quarter he had the most earnest, 
constant, and persevering support, in all his great and lead¬ 
ing measures. We know where his private and personal 
character was held in the highest degree of attachment and 
veneration ; and w T e know, too, where his measures were 
opposed, his services slighted, and his character vilified. 
We know, or we might know, if we turned to the journals, 
who expressed respect, gratitude, and regret, when he retired 
from the chief magistracy, and who refused to express either 
respect, gratitude, or regret. I shall not open those jour¬ 
nals. Publications more abusive or scurrilous never saw 
the light, than were sent forth against Washington, and all 
his leading measures, from presses south of New England. 
But I shall not look them up. 1 employ no scavengers, 
no one is in attendance on me, furnishing such means of 
retaliation; and if there were, with an ass’s load of them, 
with a bulk as huge as that which the gentleman himself, 
has produced, I would not touch one of them. I see 
enough of the violence of our own times, to be no^way 


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anxious to rescue from forgetfulness the extravagances of 
times past. 

Besides, what is all this to the present purpose 1 It has 
nothing to do with the public lands, in regard to which the 
attack was begun; and it has nothing to *do with those sen¬ 
timents and opinions which, I have thought, tend to disunion, 
and all of which the honorable member seems to have 
adopted himself, and undertaken to defend. New England 
has, at times, so argues the gentleman, held opinions as 
dangerous as those which he now holds. Suppose this were 
so ; why should he therefore abuse New England 1 If he 
finds himself countenanced by acts of hers, how is it that, 
while he relies on these acts, he covers, or seeks to cover, 
their authors with reproach 1 But, Sir, if, in the course of 
forty years, there have been undue effervescences of party 
in New England, has the same thing happened nowhere 
else 1 Party animosity and party outrage, not in New 
England, but elsewhere, denounced President Washington, 
not only as a Federalist, but as a Tory, a British agent, a 
man who in his high office sanctioned corruption. But does 
the honorable member suppose, if I had a tender here who 
should put such an effusion of wickedness and folly into my 
hand, that I would stand up and read it against the South ? 
Parties ran into great heats again in 1799 and 1800. What 
was said, Sir, or rather what was not said, in those years, 
against John Adams, one of the committee that drafted the 
Declaration of Independence, and its admitted ablest de¬ 
fender on the floor of Congress 1 If the gentleman wishes 
to increase his stores of party abuse and frothy violence, if 
he has a determined proclivity to such pursuits, there are 
treasures of that sort south of the Potomac, much to his 
taste, yet untouched. I shall not touch them. 

The parties which divided the country at the commence¬ 
ment of the late war were violent. But then there was 
violence on both sides and in every State. Minorities and 
majorities were equally violent. There was no more vio¬ 
lence against the war in New England, than in other States; 
nor any more appearance of violence, except that, owing to 
a dense population, greater facility of assembling, and more 


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presses, there may have been more in quantity spoken and 
printed there than in some other places. In the article of 
sermons, too, New England is somewhat more abundant 
than South Carolina ; and for that reason the chance of 
finding here and there an exceptionable one may be greater. 
I hope, too, there are more good ones. Opposition may 
have been more formidable in New England, as it embraced 
a larger portion of the whole population ; but it was no 
more unrestrained in principle, or violent in manner. The 
minorities dealt quite as harshly with their own State gov¬ 
ernments as the majorities dealt with the administration 
here. There were presses on both sides, popular meetings 
on both sides, ay, and pulpits on both sides also. The gen¬ 
tleman’s purveyors have only catered for him among the 
productions of one side. I certainly shall not supply the 
deficiency by furnishing examples of the other. I leave to 
him, and to them, the whole concern. 

It is enough for me to say, that if, in any part of this 
their grateful occupation, if, in all their researches, they 
find any thing in the history of Massachusetts, or New Eng¬ 
land, or in the proceedings of any legislative or other public 
body, disloyal to the Union, speaking slightingly of its value, 
proposing to break it up, or recommending non-intercourse 
with neighboring States on account of difference of political 
opinion, then, Sir, I give them all up to the honorable gen¬ 
tleman’s unrestrained rebuke ; expecting, however, that he 
will extend his^buffetings in like manner to all similar pro¬ 
ceedings, wherever else found. 

Sir, let me recur to pleasing recollections; let me indulge 
in refreshing remembrance of the past; let me remind you 
that, in early times, no States cherished greater harmony, 
both of principle and feeling, than Massachusetts and South 
Carolina. Would to God that harmony might again return ! 
Shoulder to shoulder they went through the Revolution, 
hand in hand they stood round the administration of Wash¬ 
ington, and felt his own great arm lean on them for support. 
Unkind feeling, if it exist, alienation, and distrust are the 
growth, unnatural to such soils, of false principles since 
sown. They are weeds, the seeds of which that same great 
arm never scattered. 


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Mr. President, I shall enter on no encomium upon Massa¬ 
chusetts ; she needs none. There she is. Behold her, and 
judge for yourselves. There is her history ; the world knows 
it by heart. The past, at least, is secure. There is Boston, 
and Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker Hill; and there 
they will remain for ever. The bones of her sons, falling in 
the great struggle for Independence, now lie mingled with the 
soil of every State from New England to Georgia ; and there 
they will lie for ever. And Sir, where American Liberty 
raised its first voice, and where its youth was nurtured and 
sustained, there it still lives, in the strength of its manhood, 
and full of its original spirit. If discord and disunion shall 
wound it, if party strife and blind ambition shall hawk at and 
tear it, if folly and madness, if uneasiness under salutary and 
necessary restraint, shall succeed in separating it from that 
Union, by which alone its existence is made sure, it will stand, 
in the end, by the side of that cradle in which its infancy was 
rocked; it will stretch forth its arm with whatever vigor 
it may still retain over the friends who gather round it; 
and it will fall at last, if fall it must, amidst the proudest 
monuments of its own glory, and on the very spot of its 
origin. 

I must now beg to ask, Sir, Whence is this supposed 
right of the States derived ? Where do they find the power 
to interfere with the laws of the Union 1 Sir, the opinion 
which the honorable gentleman maintains is a notion found¬ 
ed in a total misapprehension, in my judgment, of the origin 
of this government, and of the foundation on which it stands. 
I hold it to be a popular government, erected by the peo¬ 
ple ; those who administer it, responsible to the people ; 
and itself capable of being amended and modified, just as 
the people may choose it should be. It is as popular, just 
as truly emanating from the people, as the State govern¬ 
ments. It is created for one purpose ; the State govern¬ 
ments for another. It has its own powers ; they have theirs. 
There is no more authority with them to arrest the opera¬ 
tion of a law of Congress, than with Congress to arrest the 
operation of their laws. We are here to administer a Con¬ 
stitution emanating immediately from the people, and trusted 


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by them to our administration. It is not the creature of the 
State governments. It is of no moment to the argument, 
that certain acts of the State legislature are necessary to fill 
our seats in thi^ body. That is not one of their original 
State powers, a part of the sovereignty of the State. It is 
a duty which the people, by the Constitution itself, have im¬ 
posed on the State legislatures; and which they might have 
left to be performed elsewhere, if they had seen fit. So 
they have left the choice of President with electors; but all 
this does not affect the proposition that this whole govern¬ 
ment, President, Senate, and House of Representatives, is a 
popular government. It leaves it still all its popular charac¬ 
ter. The governor of a State (in some of the States) is 
chosen not directly by the people, but by those who are 
chosen by the people, for the purpose of performing, among 
other duties, that of electing a governor. Is the govern¬ 
ment of the State, on that account, not a popular government ? 
This government, Sir, is the independent offspring of the 
popular will. It is not the creature of State legislatures; 
nay, more, if the whole truth must be told, the people 
brought it into existence, established it, and have hitherto 
supported it, for the very purpose, amongst others, of impo¬ 
sing certain salutary restraints on State sovereignties. The 
States cannot now make war ; they cannot contract alliances; 
they cannot make, each for itself, separate regulations of 
commerce; they cannot lay imposts; they cannot coin 
money. If this Constitution, Sir, be the creature of State 
legislatures, it must be admitted that it has obtained a 
‘ strange control over the volitions of its creators. 

The people, then, Sir, erected this government. They 
gave it a Constitution, and in that Constitution they have 
enumerated the powers which they bestow on it. They 
have made it a limited government. They have defined its 
authority. They have restrained it to the exercise of such 
powers as are granted ; and all others, they declare, are 
reserved to the States or the people. But, Sir, they have 
not stopped here. If they had, they would have accom¬ 
plished but half their work. No definition can be so clear, 
as to avoid possibility of doubt; no limitation so precise, 
II 


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as to exclude all uncertainty. Who, then, shall construe 
this grant of the people ? Who shall interpret their 
will, where it may be supposed they have left it doubtful ? 
With whom do they repose this ultimate^right of deciding 
on the powers of the government ? Sir, they have settled 
all this in the fullest manner. They have left it with the 
government itself, in its appropriate branches. Sir, the very 
chief end, the main design, for which the whole Constitution 
was framed and adopted, was to establish a government that 
should not be obliged to act through State agency, or de¬ 
pend on State opinion and State discretion. The people 
had had quite enough of that kind of government under the 
Confederation. Under that system, the legal action, the ap¬ 
plication of law to individuals, belonged exclusively to the 
States. Congress could only recommend; their acts were 
not of binding force, till the States had adopted and sanc¬ 
tioned them. Are we in that condition still 1 Are we yet 
at the mercy of State discretion and State construction 1 
Sir, if we are, then vain will be our attempt to maintain the 
Constitution under which we sit. 

But, Sir, the people have wisely provided, in the Consti¬ 
tution itself, a proper, suitable mode and tribunal for settling 
questions of constitutional law. There are in the Constitu¬ 
tion grants of powers to Congress, and restrictions on these 
powers. There are, also, prohibitions on the States. Same 
authority must, therefore, necessarily exist, having the ulti¬ 
mate jurisdiction to fix and ascertain the interpretation of 
these grants, restrictions, and prohibitions. The Constitu¬ 
tion itself has pointed out, ordained, and established that 
authority. How has it accomplished this great and essen¬ 
tial end ? By declaring, Sir, that “ the Constitution, and the 
laws of the United States made in pursuance thereof, shall he 
the supreme law of the land , any thing in the constitution or 
laws of any State to the contrary notwithsta?iding.” 

This, Sir, was the first great step. By this the suprem¬ 
acy of the Constitution and laws of the United States is 
declared. The people so will it. No State law is to be 
valid which comes in conflict with the Constitution, or any 
law of the United States passed in pursuance of it. But 


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who shall decide this question of interference 1 To whom 
lies the last appeal ? This, Sir, the Constitution itself de¬ 
cides also, by declaring, “ that the judicial power shall extend 
to all cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the 
United States .” These two provisions cover the whole 
ground. They are, in truth, the keystone of the arch ! 
With these it is a government; without them it is a confed¬ 
eration. In pursuance of these clear and express provisions, 
Congress established, at its very first session, in the judicial 
act, a mode for carrying them into full effect, and for bring¬ 
ing all questions of constitutional power to the final decision 
of the Supreme Court. It then, Sir, became a government. 
It then had the means of self-protection ; and but for this, it 
would, in all probability, have been now among things which 
are past. Having constituted the government, and declared 
its powers, the people have further said, that, since some¬ 
body must decide on the extent of these powers, the govern¬ 
ment shall itself decide ; subject, always, like other popular 
governments, to its responsibility to the people. And now, 
Sir, I repeat, how is it that a State legislature acquires any 
power to interfere ? Who, or what, gives them the right to 
say to the people, “ We, who are your agents and servants 
for one purpose, will undertake to decide, that your other 
agents and servants, appointed by you for another purpose, 
have transcended the authority you gave them ! ” The reply 
would be, I think, not impertinent, — “.Who made you a 
judge over another’s servants ? To their own masters they 
stand or fall.” 

But, Sir, although there are fears, there are hopes also. 
The people have preserved this, their own' chosen Constitu¬ 
tion, for forty years, and have seen their happiness, prosper¬ 
ity, and renown grow with its growth, and strengthen with 
its strength. They are now, generally, strongly attached to 
it. Overthrown by direct assault, it cannot be; evaded, un¬ 
dermined, NULLIFIED, it will not be, if we, and those who 
shall succeed us here, as agents and representatives of the 
people, shall conscientiously and vigilantly discharge the two 
great branches of our public trust, faithfully to preserve, and 
wisely to administer it. 


124 


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Mr. President, I have thus stated the reasons of my dis¬ 
sent to the doctrines which have been advanced and main¬ 
tained. I am conscious of having detained you and the 
Senate much too long. I was drawn into the debate with 
no previous deliberation, such as is suited to the discussion 
of so grave and important a subject. But it is a subject of 
which my heart is full, and I have not been willing to sup¬ 
press the utterance of its spontaneous sentiments. I cannot, 
even now, persuade myself to relinquish it, without express¬ 
ing once more my deep conviction, that, since it respects 
nothing less than the Union of the States, it is of most vital 
and essential importance to the public happiness. I profess, 
Sir, in my career hitherto, to have kept steadily in view the 
prosperity and honor of the whole country, and the preser¬ 
vation of our Federal Union. It is to that Union we owe 
our safety at home, and our consideration and dignity 
abroad. It is to that Union that we are chiefly indebted 
for whatever makes us most proud of our country. That 
Union we reached only by the discipline of our virtues in 
the severe school of adversity. It had its origin in the 
necessities of disordered finance, prostrate commerce, and 
ruined credit. Under its benign influences, these great in¬ 
terests immediately awoke, as from the dead, and sprang 
forth with newness of life. Every year of its duration has 
teemed with fresh proofs of its utility and its blessings ; and 
although our territory has stretched out wider and wider, 
and our population spread farther and farther, they have 
not outrun its protection or its benefits. It has been to us 
all a copious fountain of national, social, and personal hap¬ 
piness. 

I have not allowed myself, Sir, to look beyond the Union, 
to see what might lie hidden in the dark recess behind. I 
have not coolly weighed the chances of preserving liberty 
when the bonds that unite us together shall be broken asun¬ 
der. I have not accustomed myself to hang over the preci¬ 
pice of disunion, to see whether, with my short sight, I can 
fathom the depth of the abyss below; nor could I regard 
him as a safe counsellor in the affairs of this government, 
whose thoughts should be mainly bent on considering, not 


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how the Union may be best preserved, but how tolerable 
might be the condition of the people when it should be 
broken up and destroyed. While the Union lasts, we have 
high, exciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us, for 
us and our children. Beyond that I seek not to penetrate 
the veil. God grant that in my day, at least, that curtain 
may not rise ! God grant that on my vision never may be 
opened what lies behind ! When my eyes shall be turned 
to behold for the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see 
him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a 
once glorious Union ; on States dissevered, discordant, bel¬ 
ligerent ; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may 
be, in fraternal blood ! Let their last feeble and lingering 
glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic, 
now known and honored throughout the earth, still full high 
advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original 
lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star 
obscured, bearing for its motto, no such miserable interroga¬ 
tory as “ What is all this worth ? ” nor those other words 
of delusion and folly, “Liberty first and Union after¬ 
wards ; ” but every where, spread all over in characters of 
living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over 
the sea and over the land, and in every wind under the 
whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true 
American heart — Liberty and Union, now and for ever, one 
and inseparable ! 


LAST REMARKS ON FOOT’S RESOLUTION. 

Delivered in the Senate, on the 27th of January, 1830 . 

Mr. Hayne having rejoined to Mr. Webster, especially on the con* 
stitutional question, Mr. Webster rose, and, in conclusion, said: — 

A few words, Mr. President, on this constitutional argu¬ 
ment, which the honorable gentleman has labored to recon¬ 
struct. 

His argument consists of two propositions and an infer¬ 
ence. His propositions are, — 

1. That the Constitution is a compact between the States. 

2. That a compact between two, with authority reserved 

11 * 



126 


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to one to interpret its terms, would be a surrender to that 
one of all power whatever. 

3. Therefore, (such is his inference,) the general govern¬ 
ment does not possess the authority to construe its own 
powers. 

Now, Sir, who does not see, without the aid of exposi¬ 
tion or detection, the utter confusion of ideas involved in 
this so elaborate and systematic argument ? 

The Constitution, it is said, is a compact between States; 
the States, then, and the States only, are parties to the com¬ 
pact. How comes the general government itself a party? 
Upon the honorable gentleman’s hypothesis, the general gov¬ 
ernment is the result of the compact, the creature of the 
compact, not one of the parties to it. Yet the argument, as 
the gentleman has now stated it, makes the government 
itself one of its own creators. It makes it a party to that 
compact to which it owes its own existence. 

For the purpose of erecting the Constitution on the basis 
of a compact, the gentleman considers the States as parties 
to that compact; but as soon as his compact is made, then 
he chooses to consider the general government, which is the 
offspring of that compact, not its offspring, but one of its 
parties ; and so, being a party, without the power of judg¬ 
ing on the terms of compact. Pray, Sir, in what school is 
such reasoning as this taught 1 

While the gentleman is contending against construction, 
he himself is setting up the most loose and dangerous con¬ 
struction. The Constitution declares, that the laws of Con¬ 
gress passed in pursuance of the Constitution shall be the 
supreme law of the land. No construction is necessary here. 
It declares, also, with equal plainness and precision, that the 
judicial power of the United States shall extend to every case 
.arising under the laics of Congress. This needs no con¬ 
struction. Here is a law, then, which is declared to be 
supreme; and here is a power established, which is to inter¬ 
pret that law. Now, Sir, how has the gentleman met this 1 
Suppose the Constitution to be a compact, yet here are its 
terms; and how does the gentleman get rid of them 1 He 
cannot argue the seal off the bond , nor the words out of the 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


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instrument. Here they are; what answer does he give to 
them ? None in the world, Sir, except, that the effect of 
this would be to place the States in a condition of inferi¬ 
ority ; and that it results from the very nature of things, 
there being no superior, that the parties must be their own 
judges ! Thus closely and cogently does the honorable 
gentleman reason on the words of the Constitution. The 
gentleman says, if there be such a power of final decision in 
the general government, he asks for the grant of that power. 
Well, Sir, I show him the grant. I turn him to the very 
words. I show him that the laws of Congress are made 
supreme ; and that the judicial power extends, by express 
words, to the interpretation of these laws. Instead of 
answering this, he retreats into the general reflection, that 
it must result from the nature of things , that the States, 
being parties, must judge for themselves. 

But, Sir, the gentleman has failed to maintain his leading 
proposition. He has not shown, it cannot be shown, that 
the Constitution is a compact between State governments. 
The Constitution itself, in its very front, refutes that idea; 
it declares that it is ordained and established by the people 
of the United States. So far from saying that it is estab¬ 
lished by the governments of the several States, it does not 
even say that it is established by the people of the several 
States; but it pronounces that it is established by the peo¬ 
ple of the United States, in the aggregate. The gentleman 
says, it must mean no more than the people of the several 
States. Doubtless, the people of the several States, taken 
collectively, constitute the people of the United States; but 
it is in this, their collective capacity, it is as all the people 
of the United States, that they establish the Constitution. 
So they declare; and words cannot be plainer than the 
words used. 

When the gentleman says the Constitution is a compact 
between the States, he uses language exactly applicable to 
the old Confederation. He speaks as if he were in Con¬ 
gress before 1789. He describes fully that old state of 
things then existing. The Confederation was, in strictness, 
a compact; the States, as States, were parties to it. We 


128 


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had no other general government. But that was found 
insufficient, and inadequate to the public exigencies. The 
people were not satisfied with it, and undertook to establish 
a better. They undertook to form a general government, 
which should stand on a new basis; not a confederacy, not 
a league, not a compact between States, but a Constitution; 
a popular government, founded in popular election, directly 
responsible to the people themselves, and divided into 
branches with prescribed limits of power, and prescribed 
duties. They ordained such a government, they gave it 
the name of a Constitution , and therein they established a 
distribution of powers between this, their general govern¬ 
ment, and their several State governments. When they 
shall become dissatisfied with this distribution, they can alter 
it. Their own power over their own instrument remains. 
But until they shall alter it, it must stand as their will, and 
is equally binding on the general government and on the 
States. 

The gentleman, Sir, finds analogy where I see none. 
He likens it to the case of a treaty, in which, there being 
no common superior, each party must interpret for itself, 
under its own obligation of good faith. But this is not a 
treaty, but a constitution of government, with powers to 
execute itself, and fulfil its duties. 

I admit, Sir, that this government is a government of 
checks and balances ; that is, the House of Representatives 
is a check on the Senate, and the Senate is a check on the 
House, and the President a check on both. But I cannot 
comprehend him, or, if I do, I totally differ from him, 
when he applies the notion of checks and balances to the 
interference of different governments. He argues, that, if 
we transgress our constitutional limits, each State, as a 
State, has a right to check us. Does he admit the converse 
of the proposition, that we have a right to check the States 1 
The gentleman’s doctrines would give us a strange jumble 
of authorities and powers, instead of governments of sepa¬ 
rate and defined powers. It is the part of wisdom, I think, 
to avoid this; and to keep the general government and the 
State government each in its proper sphere, avoiding as 
carefully as possible every kind of interference. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


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Finally, Sir, the honorable gentleman says that the 
States will only interfere, by their power to preserve the 
Constitution. They will not destroy it, they will not impair 
it; they will only save, they will only preserve, they will 
only strengthen it! Ah! Sir, this is but the old story. 
All regulated governments, all free governments, have been 
broken by similar disinterested and well-disposed interfer¬ 
ence. It is the common pretence. But I take leave of the 
subject. 


PUBLIC DINNER AT NEW YORK. 

Speech delivered at the City Hotel, in New York, on the 10th day of March, 1831. 

Chancellor Kent presided, and proposed the health of their guest, 
which was received with cheering and acclamation. 

Mr. Webster rose and addressed the company: — 

I owe the honor of this occasion, Gentlemen, to your 
patriotic and affectionate attachment to the Constitution of 
our country. For an effort, well intended, however other¬ 
wise of unpretending character, made in the discharge of 
public duty, and designed to maintain the Constitution and 
vindicate its just powers, you have been pleased to tender 
me this token of your respect. It would be idle affectation 
to deny that it gives me singular gratification. Every pub¬ 
lic man must naturally desire the approbation of his fellow- 
citizens ; and though it may be supposed that I should be 
anxious, in the first place, not to disappoint the expectations 
of those whose immediate representative I am, it is not pos¬ 
sible but that I should feel, nevertheless, the high value of 
such a mark of esteem as is here offered. But, Gentlemen, 
I am conscious that the main purpose of this occasion is 
higher than mere manifestation of personal regard. It is to 
evince your devotion to the Constitution, your sense of 
its transcendent value, and your just alarm at whatever 
threatens to weaken its proper authority, or endanger its 
existence. 

Gentlemen, this could hardly be otherwise. It would be 
strange, indeed, if the members of this vast commercial 



130 


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community should not be first and foremost to rally for the 
Constitution, whenever opinions and doctrines are advanced 
hostile to its principles. Where sooner than here T where 
louder than here, may we expect a patriotic voice to be 
raised, when the union of the States is threatened 1 In this 
great emporium, at this central point of the united commerce 
of the United States, of all places, we may expect the warm¬ 
est, the most determined and universal feeling of attachment 
to the national government. Gentlemen, no one can estimate 
more highly than I do the natural advantages of your city. 
No one entertains a higher opinion than myself, also, $f that 
spirit of wise and liberal policy, which has actu^fed the 
government of your own great State in the accomplishment 
of high objects, important to the growth and prosperity both 
of the State and the city. But all these local advantages, and 
all this enlightened state policy, could never have made your 
city what it now is, without the aid and protection of a gen¬ 
eral government, extending over all the States, and establish¬ 
ing for all a common and uniform system of commercial 
regulation. Without national character, without public credit, 
without systematic finance, without uniformity of commercial 
laws, all other advantages possessed by this city would have 
decayed and perished, like unripe fruit. A general govern¬ 
ment was, for years before it was instituted, the great object 
of desire to the inhabitants of this city. New York, at a 
very early day, was conscious of her local advantages for 
commerce; she saw her destiny, and was eager to embrace 
it; but nothing else than a general government could make 
free her path before her, and set her forward on her brilliant 
career. She early saw all this, and to the accomplishment 
of this great and indispensable object she bent every faculty, 
and exerted every effort. She was not mistaken. She 
formed no false judgment. At the moment of the adoption 
of the Constitution, New York was the capital of one State, 
and contained thirty-two or three thousand people. It now 
contains more than two hundred thousand people, and is 
justly regarded as the commercial capital, not only of all the 
United States, but of the whole continent also, from the pole 
to the South Sea. Every page of her history, for the last 


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131 


forty years, bears high and irresistible testimony to the bene¬ 
fits and blessings of the general government. Her astonish¬ 
ing growth is referred to, and quoted, all the world over, 
as one of the most striking proofs of the effects of our 
Federal Union. To suppose her now to be easy and indif¬ 
ferent, when notions are advanced tending to its dissolution, 
would be to suppose her equally forgetful of the past and 
blind to the present, alike ignorant of her own history and 
her own interest, metamorphosed, from all that she has 
been, into a being tired of its prosperity, sick of its own 
growth and greatness, and infatuated for its own destruction. 
Every blow aimed at the union of the States strikes on the 
tenderest nerve of her interest and her happiness. To bring 
the Union into debate is to bring her own future prosperity 
into debate also. To speak of arresting the laws of the 
Union, of interposing State power in matters of commerce 
and revenue, of weakening the full and just authority of the 
general government, would be, in regard to this city, but 
another mode of speaking of commercial ruin, of abandoned 
wharves, of vacated houses, of diminished and dispersing 
population, of bankrupt merchants, of mechanics without 
employment, and laborers without bread. The growth of 
this city and the Constitution of the United States are coevals 
and contemporaries. They began together, they have flour¬ 
ished together, and if rashness and folly destroy one, the 
other will follow it to the tomb. 

Gentlemen, it is true, indeed, that the growth of this city 
is extraordinary, and almost unexampled. It is now, I 
believe, sixteen or seventeen years since I first saw it. 
Within that comparatively short period, it has added to its 
number three times the whole amount of its population when 
the Constitution was adopted. Of all things having power 
to check this prosperity, of all things potent to blight and 
blast it, of all things capable of compelling this city to recede 
as fast as she has advanced, a disturbed government, an 
enfeebled public authority, a broken or a weakened union 
of the States, would be most efficacious. This would be 
cause efficient enough. Every thing else, in the common 
fortune of communities, she may hope to resist or to prevent; 
but this would be fatal as the arrow of death. 


132 


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Gentlemen, you have personal recollections and as¬ 
sociations, connected with the establishment and adoption 
of the Constitution, which are necessarily called up on an 
occasion like this. It is impossible to forget the prominent 
agency exercised by eminent citizens of your own, in regard 
to that great measure. Those great men are now recorded 
among the illustrious dead ; but they have left names never 
to be forgotten, and never to be remembered without re¬ 
spect and veneration. Least of all can they be forgotten by 
you, when assembled here for the purpose of signifying your 
attachment to the Constitution, and your sense of its inesti¬ 
mable importance to the happiness of the people. 

I should do violence to my own feelings, Gentlemen, I 
think I should offend yours, if I omitted respectful mention 
of distinguished names yet fresh in your recollections. How 
can I stand here to speak of the Constitution of the United 
States, of the wisdom of its provisions, of the difficulties at¬ 
tending its adoption, of the evils from which it rescued the 
country, and of the prosperity and power to which it has 
raised it, and yet pay no tribute to those who were highly 
instrumental in accomplishing the work 1 While we are 
here to rejoice that it yet stands firm and strong, while we 
congratulate one another that we live under its benign in¬ 
fluence, and cherish hopes of its long duration, we cannot 
forget who they were that, in the day of our national infan¬ 
cy, in the times of despondency and despair, mainly assisted 
to work out our deliverance. I should feel that I was un¬ 
faithful to the strong recollections which the occasion presses 
upon us, that I was not true to gratitude, not true to patriot¬ 
ism, not true to the living or the dead, not true to your feel¬ 
ings or my own, if I should forbear to make mention of 
Alexander Hamilton. 

Corning from the military service of the country yet a 
youth, but with knowledge and maturity, even in civil affairs, 
far beyond his years, he made this city the place of his 
adoption ; and he gave the whole powers of his mind to the 
contemplation of the weak and distracted condition of the 
country. Daily increasing in acquaintance and confidence 
with the people of New York, he saw, what they also saw, 
the absolute necessity of some closer bond of union for the 




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133 


States. This was the great object of desire. He never 
appears to have lost sight of it, but was found in the lead 
whenever any thing was to be attempted for its accomplish¬ 
ment. One experiment after another, as is well known, 
was tried, and all failed. The States were urgently called 
on to confer such further powers on the old Congress as 
would enable it to redeem the public faith, or to adopt, 
themselves, some general and common principle of com¬ 
mercial regulation. But the States had not agreed, and 
were not likely to agree. In this posture o 1 ^ affafrs, so full 
of difficulty and public distress, commissioners from five or 
six of the States met, on the request of Virginia, at Annap¬ 
olis, in September, 1786. The precise object of their ap¬ 
pointment was to take into consideration the trade of the 
United States ; to examine the relative situations and trade 
of the several States; and to consider how far a uniform 
system of commercial regulations was necessary to their 
common interest and permanent harmony. Mr. Hamilton 
was one of these commissioners ; and I have understood, 
though I cannot assert the fact, that their report was drawn 
by him. His associate from this State was the venerable 
Judge Benson, who has lived long, and still lives, to see the 
happy results of the counsels which originated in this meet¬ 
ing. Of its members, he and Mr. Madison are, I believe, 
now the only survivors. These commissioners recommend¬ 
ed, what took place the next year, a general Convention of 
all the States, to take into serious deliberation the condition of 
the country, and devise such provisions as should render the 
constitution of the federal government adequate to the exi¬ 
gencies of the Union. I need not remind you that of this 
Convention Mr. Hamilton was an active and efficient mem¬ 
ber. The Constitution was framed, and submitted to the 
country. And then another great work was to be under¬ 
taken. The Constitution would naturally find, and did find, 
enemies and opposers. Objections to it were numerous, 
and powerful, and spirited. They were to be answered; 
and they were effectually answered. The writers of the 
numbers of the Federalist, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Madison, and 
Mr. Jay, so greatly distinguished themselves in their dis- 
12 


134 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


cussions of the Constitution, that those numbers are generally 
received as important commentaries on the text, and accurate 
expositions, in 'general, of its objects and purposes. Those 
papers were all written and published in this city. Mr. Ham¬ 
ilton was elected one of the distinguished delegation from 
the city to the State Convention at Poughkeepsie, called 
to ratify the new Constitution. Its debates are published. 
Mr. Hamilton appears to have exerted, on this occasion, to 
the utmost, eypry power and faculty of his mind. 

The whole question was likely to depend on the decision 
of New York. He felt the full importance of the crisis; 
and the reports of his speeches, imperfect as they probably 
are, are yet lasting monuments to his genius and patriotism. 
He saw at last his hopes fulfilled ; he saw the Constitution 
adopted, and the government under it established and or¬ 
ganized. The discerning eye of Washington immediately 
called him to that post, which was far the most important in 
the administration of the new system. He was made Secre¬ 
tary of the Treasury; and how he fulfilled the duties of 
such a place, at such a time, the whole country perceived 
with delight and the whole world saw with admiration. He 
smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant 
streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead 
corpse of the Public Credit, and it sprung upon its feet. 
The fabled birth of Minerva, from the brain of Jove, was 
hardly more sudden or more perfect than the financial sys¬ 
tem of the United States, as it burst forth from the con¬ 
ceptions of Alexander Hamilton. 

Your recollections, Gentlemen, your respect, and your 
affections, all conspire to bring before you, at such a time 
as this, another great man, now too numbered with the 
dead. I mean the pure, the disinterested, the patriotic John 
Jay. His character is a brilliant jewel in the sacred treas¬ 
ures of national reputation. Leaving his profession at an 
early period, yet not before he had singularly distinguished 
himself in it, his whole life, from the commencement of the 
Revolution until his final retirement, was a life of public 
service. A member of the first Congress, he was the author 
of that political paper which is generally acknowledged to 


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135 


stand first among the incomparable productions of that 
body; * productions which called forth that decisive strain 
ot commendation from the great Lord Chatham, in which 
he pronounced them not inferior to the finest productions 
of the master states of the world. Mr. Jay had been abroad, 
and he had also been long intrusted with the difficult duties 
of our foreign correspondence at home. He had seen and 
felt, in the fullest measure and to the greatest possible ex¬ 
tent, the difficulty of conducting our foreign affairs honor¬ 
ably and usefully, without a stronger and more perfect do¬ 
mestic union. Though not a member of the Convention 
which framed the Constitution, he was yet present while it 
was in session, and looked anxiously for its result. By the 
choice of this city, he had a seat in the State Convention, and 
took an active and zealous part for the adoption of the Consti¬ 
tution. On the organization of the new government, he was 
selected by Washington to be the first Chief Justice of the 
Supreme Court of the United States; and surely the high and 
most responsible duties of that station could not have been 
trusted to abler or safer hands. It is the duty of that tribu¬ 
nal, one of equal importance and delicacy, to decide consti¬ 
tutional questions, occasionally arising on State laws. The 
general learning and ability, and especially the prudence, 
the mildness, und the firmness of his character, eminently 
fitted Mr. Jay to be the head of such a court. When the 
spotless ermine of the judicial robe fell on John Jay, it 
touched nothing less spotless than itself. 

These eminent men, Gentlemen, the contemporaries of 
some of you, known to most, and revered by all, were so 
conspicuous in the framing and adopting of the Constitution, 
and called so early to important stations under it, that a 
tribute, better, indeed, than I have given, or am able to give, 
seemed due to them from us, on this occasion. 

There was yet another, of whom mention is to be made. 
In the Revolutionary history of the country, the name of 
Chancellor Livingston became early prominent. He was 
a member of that Congress which declared Independence; 
and a member, too, of the committee which drew and report- 


* Address to the People of Great Britain. 


136 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


ed the immortal Declaration. At the period of the adoption 
of the Constitution, he was its firm friend and able advocate. 
He was a member of the State Convention, being one of 
that list of distinguished and gifted men who represented this 
city in that body; and he threw the whole weight of his tal¬ 
ents and influence into the doubtful scale of the Constitution. 

Gentlemen, as connected with the Constitution, you have 
also local recollections which must bind it still closer to your 
attachment and affection. It commenced its being and its 
blessings here. It was in this city, in the midst of friends, 
anxious, hopeful, and devoted, that the new government 
started in its course. To us, Gentlemen, who are younger, 
it has come down by tradition; but some around me are 
old enough to have witnessed, and did witness, the interest¬ 
ing scene of the first inauguration. They remember what 
voices of gratified patriotism, what shouts of enthusiastic 
hope, what acclamations rent the air, how many eyes were 
suffused with tears of joy, how cordially each man pressed 
the hand of him who was next to him, when, standing in the 
open air in the centre of the city, in the view of assembled 
thousands, the first President of the United States was heard 
solemnly to pronounce the words of his official oath, repeat¬ 
ing them from the lips of Chancellor Livingston. You then 
thought, Gentlemen, that the great work of the Revolution was 
accomplished. You then felt that you had a government; 
that the United States were then, indeed, united. Every 
benignant star seemed to shed its selectest influence on that 
auspicious hour. Here were heroes of the Revolution; 
here were sages of the Convention; here were minds, disci¬ 
plined and schooled in all the various fortunes of the coun¬ 
try, acting now in several relations, but all cooperating to 
the same great end, the successful administration of the new 
and untried Constitution. And he, — how shall I speak of 
him 1 — he was at the head, who was already first in war, 
who was already first in the hearts of his countrymen, and 
who was now shown also, by the unanimous suffrage of the 
country, to be first in peace. 

Gentlemen, how gloriously have the hopes then indulged 
been fulfilled ! Whose expectation was then so sanguine, 


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137 


I may almost ask, whose imagination then so extravagant, 
as to run forward, and contemplate as probable, the one half 
of what has been accomplished in forty years'? Who among 
you can go back to 1789, and see what this city, and this 
country, too, then were; and, beholding what they now are, 
can be ready to consent that the Constitution of the United 
States shall be weakened — dishonored — nullified? 

The legislative history of the first two or three years of 
the government is full of instruction. It presents, in strik¬ 
ing light, the evils intended to be remedied by the Consti¬ 
tution, and the provisions which were deemed essential to 
the remedy of those evils. It exhibits the country, in the 
moment of its change from a weak and ill-defined confed¬ 
eracy of States, into a general, efficient, but still restrained 
and limited government. It shows the first working of our 
peculiar system, moved, as it then was, by master hands. 

Gentlemen, for one, I confess I like to dwell on this part 
of our history. It is good for us to be here. It is good 
for us to study the situation of the country at this period, to 
survey its difficulties, to look at the conduct of its public 
men, to see how they struggled with obstacles, real and for¬ 
midable, and how gloriously they brought the Union out of 
its state of depression and distress. Truly, Gentlemen, 
these founders and fathers of the Constitution were great 
men, and thoroughly furnished for every good work. All 
that reading and learning could do; all that talent and 
intelligence could do; and, what perhaps is still more, all 
that long experience in difficult and troubled times and a 
deep and intimate practical knowledge of the condition of 
the country could do, — conspired to fit them for the great 
business of forming a general, but limited government, em¬ 
bracing common objects, extending over all the States, and 
yet touching the power of the States no further than those 
common objects require. I confess I love to linger around 
these original fountains, and to drink deep of their waters. 
I love to imbibe, in as full measure as I may, the spirit of 
those who laid the foundations of the government, and so 
wisely and skilfully balanced and adjusted its bearings and 
proportions. 


12 * 


138 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


Gentlemen, what I have said of the benefits of the Con¬ 
stitution to your city might be said, with little change, in 
respect to every other part of the country. Its benefits are 
not exclusive. What has it left undone, which any govern¬ 
ment could do, for the whole country ? In what condition 
has it placed us 1 Where do we now stand 1 Are we ele¬ 
vated, or degraded, by its operation 1 What is our condi¬ 
tion under its influence, at the very moment when some talk- 
of arresting its power and breaking its unity ? Do we not 
feel ourselves on an eminence ? Do we not challenge the 
respect of the whole world ? What has placed us thus high 1 - 
What has given us this just pride ? What else is it, but the 
unrestrained and free operation of that same Federal Con¬ 
stitution, which it lips been proposed now to hamper, and 
manacle, and nullify ? Who is there among us, that, should 
he find himself on any spot of the earth where human beings 
exist, and where the existence of other nations is known, 
would not be proud to say, I am an American 1 I am a 
countryman of Washington 1 I am a citizen of that re¬ 
public, which, although it has suddenly sprung up, yet there 
are none on the globe who have ears to hear, and have not 
heard of it; who have eyes to see, and have not read of it; 
who know any thing, and yet do not know of its existence 
and its glory 1 And, Gentlemen, let me now reverse the 
picture. Let me ask, who there js among us, if he were 
to be found to-morrow in one of the civilized countries of 
Europe, and were there to learn that this goodly form of 
government had been overthrown, that the United States 
were no longer united, that a death blow had been struck 
upon their bond of union, that they themselves had de¬ 
stroyed their chief good and their chief honor, — who is 
there whose heart would not sink within him ? Who is 
there who would not cover his face for very shame ? 

At this very moment, Gentlemen, our country is a general 
refuge for the distressed and the persecuted of other nations. 
Whoever is in affliction from political occurrences in his own 
country looks here for shelter. Whether he be republican, 
flying from the oppression of thrones, or Whether he be 
monarch or monarchist, flying from thrones that crumble 


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139 


and fall under or around him, he feels equal assurance, that, 
if he get foothold on our soil, his person will be safe, and 
his rights will be respected. 

And who will venture to say, that, in any government now 
existing in the world, there is greater security for persons or 
property than in that of the United States ? We have tried 
these popular institutions in times of great excitement and 
commotion, and they have stood, substantially, firm and 
steady, while the fountains of the great political deep have 
been elsewhere broken up; while thrones, resting on ages of 
prescription, have tottered and fallen ; and while, in other 
countries, the earthquake of unrestrained popular commo¬ 
tion has swallowed up all law, and all liberty, and all right 
together. Our government has been tried in peace, and it 
has been tried in war, and has proved itself fit for both. 
It has been assailed from without, and it has successfully 
resisted the shock; it has been disturbed within, and it has 
effectually quieted the disturbance. It can stand trial, it 
can stand assault, it can stand adversity, it can stand every 
thing, but the marring of its own beauty, and the weaken¬ 
ing of its own strength. It can stand every thing but the 
effects of our own rashness and our own folly. It can stand 
every thing but disorganization, disunion, and nullification. 

It is a striking fact, and as true as it is striking, that at 
this very moment, among all the principal civilized states of 
the world, that government is most secure against the danger 
of popular commotion which is itself entirely popular. It 
seems, indeed, that the submission of every thing to the 
public will, under constitutional restraints, imposed by the 
people themselves, furnishes itself security that they will 
desire nothing .wrong. 

Certain it is, that popular, constitutional liberty, as we en¬ 
joy it, appears, in the present state of the world, as sure 
and stable a basis for government to rest upon, as any gov¬ 
ernment of enlightened states can find, or does find. Cer¬ 
tain it is, that, in these times of so much popular knowl¬ 
edge, and so much popular activity, those governments which 
do not admit the people to partake in their administration, 
but keep them under and beneath, sit on materials for an 


140 


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explosion, which may take place at any moment, and blow 
them into a thousand atoms. 

Gentlemen, let any man, who would degrade and enfeeble 
the national Constitution, let any man who would nullify its 
laws, stand forth and tell us what he would wish. What 
does he propose ? Whatever he may be, and whatever sub¬ 
stitute he may hold forth, I am sure the people of this coun¬ 
try will decline his kind interference, and hold on by the 
Constitution which they possess. Any one who would will¬ 
ingly destroy it, I rejoice to know, would be looked upon 
with abhorrence. It is deeply intrenched in the regards of 
the people. Doubtless it may be undermined by artful and 
long-continued hostility; it may be imperceptibly weakened 
by secret attack; it may be insidiously shorn of its powers 
by slow degrees; the public vigilance may be lulled, and 
when ifc awakes, it may find the Constitution frittered away. 
In these modes, or some of them, it is possible that the union 
of the States may be dissolved. 

But if the general attention of the people be kept alive, 
if they see the intended mischief before it is effected, they 
will prevent it by their own sovereign power. They will in¬ 
terpose themselves between the meditated blow and the 
object of their regard and attachment. Next to the con¬ 
trolling authority of the people themselves, the preservation 
of the government is mainly committed to those 'who admin¬ 
ister it. If conducted in wisdom, it cannot but stand strong, 
its genuine, original spirit is a patriotic, liberal, and gener¬ 
ous spirit; a spirit of conciliation, of moderation, of candor, 
and charity; a spirit of friendship, and not a spirit of hos¬ 
tility toward the States ; a spirit careful not to exceed, and 
equally careful not to relinquish, its just powers. While no 
interest can or ought to feel itself shut out from the benefits 
of the Constitution, none should consider those benefits as 
exclusively its own. The interests of all must be consulted, 
and reconciled, and provided for, as far as possible, that all 
may perceive the benefits of a united government. 

Among other things, we are to remember that new States 
have arisen, possessing already an immense population, spread¬ 
ing and thickening over vast regions which were a wilder- 




SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 141 

ness when the Constitution was adopted. Those States are 
not, like New York, directly connected with maritime com¬ 
merce. They are entirely agricultural, and need markets 
for consumption; and they need, too, access to those mar¬ 
kets. It is the duty of the government to bring the inter¬ 
ests of these new States into the Union, and incorporate 
them closely jn the family compact. Gentlemen, it is not 
impracticable to reconcile these various interests, and so to 
administer the government as to make it useful to all. It 
was never easier to administer the government than it is 
now. We are beset with none, or with few, of its original 
difficulties ; and it is a time of great general prosperity and 
happiness. Shall we admit ourselves incompetent to carry 
on the government, so as to be satisfactory to the whole 
country ? Shall we admit that there has so little descended 
to us of the wisdom and prudence of our fathers 1 If the 
government could be administered in Washington’s time, 
when it was yet new, when the country was heavily in debt, 
when foreign relations were in a threatening condition, and 
when Indian wars pressed on the frontiers, can it not be ad¬ 
ministered now ? Let us not acknowledge ourselves so 
unequal to our duties. 

Gentlemen, on the occasion referred to by the chair, it 
became necessary to consider the judicial power, and its 
proper functions under the Constitution. In every free and 
balanced government, this is a most essential and important 
power. Indeed, I think it is a remark of Mr. Hume, that 
the administration of justice seems to be the leading object 
of institutions of government; that legislatures assemble, 
that armies are embodied, that both war and peace are made, 
with a sort of ultimate reference to the proper administra¬ 
tion of laws, and the judicial protection of private rights. 
The judicial power comes home to every man. If the legis¬ 
lature passes incorrect or unjust general laws, its members 
bear the evil as well as others. But judicature acts on in¬ 
dividuals. It touches every private right, every private in¬ 
terest, and almost every private feeling. What we possess 
is hardly fit to be called our own, unless we feel secure in 
its possession ; and this security, this feeling of perfect 


142 


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safety, cannot exist under a wicked, or even under a weak 
and ignorant, administration of the laws. There is no hap¬ 
piness, there is no liberty, there is no enjoyment of life, un¬ 
less a man can say when he rises in the morning, I shall be 
subject to the decision of no unjust judge to-day. 

But, Gentlemen, the judicial department, under the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States, possesses still higher duties. 
It is true, that it may be called on, and is occasionally called 
on, to decide questions which are, in one sense, of a political 
nature. The general and State governments, botli estab¬ 
lished by the people, are established for different purposes, 
and with different powers. Between those powers questions 
may arise; and who shall decide them ? Some provision 
for this end is absolutely necessary. What shall it be 1 This 
was the question before the Convention ; and various schemes 
were suggested. It was foreseen that the States might 
inadvertently pass laws inconsistent with the Constitution of 
the United States, or with acts of Congress. At least, laws 
might be passed which would be charged with such incon¬ 
sistency. How should these questions be disposed of ? 
Where shall the power of judging, in cases of alleged in¬ 
terference, be lodged ? One suggestion in the Convention 
was, to make it an executive power, and to lodge it in the 
hands of the President, by requiring all State laws to be 
submitted to him, that he might negative such as he thought 
appeared repugnant to the general Constitution. This idea, 
perhaps, may have been borrowed from the povv^r exercised 
by the crown over the laws of the Colonies. It would 
evidently have been, not only an inconvenient and trouble¬ 
some proceeding, but dangerous also to the powers of the 
States. It was not pressed. It was thought wiser and safer, 
on the whole, to require State legislatures and State judges 
to take an oath to support the Constitution of the United 
States, and then leave the States at liberty to pass whatever 
laws they pleased, and if interference, in point of fact, 
should arise, to refer the question to judicial decision. To 
this end, the judicial power, under the Constitution of the 
United States, was made coextensive with the legislative 
power. It was extended to all cases arising under the Con- 




SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


143 


stitution and the laws of Congress. The judiciary became 
thus possessed of the authority of deciding, in the last re¬ 
sort, in all cases of alleged interference, between State laws 
and the Constitution and laws of Congress. 

o 

Gentlemen, this is the actual Constitution, this is the law 
of the land. There may be those who think it unnecessary, 
or who would prefer a different mode of deciding such ques¬ 
tions. But this is the established mode, and, till it be al¬ 
tered, the courts can no more decline their duty on these 
occasions than on other occasions. But can any reasonable 
man doubt the expediency of this provision, or suggest a 
better ? Is it not absolutely essential to the peace of the 
country that this power should exist somewhere 1 Where 
can it exist, better than where it now does exist ? The 
national judiciary is the common tribunal of the whole 
country. It is organized by the common authority, and its 
places filled by the common agent. This is a plain and 
practical provision. It was framed by no bunglers, nor by 
any wild theorists. And who can say that it has failed ? 
Who can find substantial fault with its operation or its re¬ 
sults ? The great question is, whether we shall provide for 
the pe^eable decision of cases of collision. Shall they be 
decided by law, or by force ? Shall the decisions be de¬ 
cisions of peace, or decisions of war ? 

Gentlemen, our country stands, at the present time, on 
commanding ground. Older nations, with different systems 
of government, may be somewhat slow to acknowledge ail 
that justly belongs to us. But we may feel, without vanity, 
that America is doing her part in the great work of im¬ 
proving human affairs. There are two principles, Gentle¬ 
men, strictly and purely American, which are now likely to 
prevail throughout the civilized world. Indeed, they seem 
the necessary result of the progress of civilization and 
knowledge. These are, first, popular governments, re¬ 
strained by written constitutions ; and, secondly, universal 
education. Popular governments and general education, 
acting and reacting, mutually producing and reproducing 
each other, are the mighty agencies which in our days ap¬ 
pear tq be exciting, stimulating, and changing civilized 


144 


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societies. Man, every where, is now found demanding a par¬ 
ticipation in government — and he will not be refused ; and 
he demands knowledge as necessary to self-government. 
On the basis of these two principles, liberty and knowledge, 
our own American systems rest. Thus far we have not been 
disappointed in their results. Our existing institutions, 
raised on these foundations, have conferred on us almost 
unmixed happiness. Do we hope to better our condition 
by change ? When we shall have nullified the present Con¬ 
stitution, what are we to receive in its place 1 As fathers, 
do we wish for our children better government, or better 
laws 1 As members of society, as lovers of our country, is 
there any thing we can desire for it better than that, as ages 
and centuries roll over it, it may possess the same invaluable 
institutions which it now enjoys ? For my part, Gentlemen, 
I can only say, that I desire to thank the beneficent Author 
of all good for being bom where I was born, and when I was 
born ; that the portion of human existence alloted to me 
has been meted out to me in this goodly land, and at this 
interesting period. I rejoice that I have lived to see so 
much development of truth, so much progress of liberty, so 
much diffusion of virtue and happiness. And, through good 
report and evil report, it will be my consolation io be a 
citizen of a republic unequalled in the annals of the world 
for the freedom of its institutions, its high prosperity, and 
the prospects of good which yet lie before it. Our course, 
Gentlemen, is onward, straight onward, and forward. Let 
us not turn to the right hand, nor to the left. Our path is 
marked out for us, clear, plain, bright, distinctly defined, 
like the milky way across the heavens. If we are true to 
our country, in our day and generation, and those who come 
after us shall be true to it also, assuredly, assuredly, we 
shall elevate her to a pitch of prosperity and happiness, of 
honor and power, never yet reached by any nation beneath 
the sun. 


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THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 

Speech delivered at a Public Dinner in honor of the Centennial Birthday of Washington, 
on the 22 d of February, 1832. 

On the 22d of February, 1832, being the centennial birthday of 
George Washington, a number of gentlemen, members of Congress 
and others, from different parts of the Union, united in commemorating 
the occasion by a public dinner in the city of Washington. 

At the request of the Committee of Arrangements, Mr. Webster, then 
a Senator from Massachusetts, occupied the chair. After the cloth was 
removed, he addressed the company. 

I rise, Gentlemen, to propose to you the name of that 
great man, in commemoration of whose birth, and in honor 
of whose character and services, we are here assembled. 

I am sure that I express a sentiment common to every 
one present, when I say that there is something more than 
ordinarily solemn and affecting in this occasion. 

We are met to testify our regard for him whose name is 
intimately blended with whatever belongs most essentially to 
the prosperity, the liberty, the free institutions, and the re¬ 
nown of our country. That name was of power to rally a 
nation, in the hour of thick-thronging public disasters and 
calamities ; that name shone, amid the storm of war, a bea¬ 
con light, to cheer and guide the country’s friends ; it flamed, 
too, like a meteor, to repel her foes. That name, in the 
days of peace, was a loadstone, attracting to itself a whole 
people’s confidence, a whole people’s love, and the whole 
world’s respect. That name, descending with all time, 
spreading over the whole earth, and uttered in all the lan¬ 
guages belonging to the tribes and races of men, will for 
ever be pronounced with affectionate gratitude by every one 
in whose breast there shall arise an aspiration for human 
rights and human liberty. 

We perform this grateful duty, Gentlemen, at the expira¬ 
tion of a hundred years from his birth, near the place, so 
cherished and beloved by him, where his dust now reposes, 
and in the capital which bears his own immortal name. 

All experience evinces that human sentiments are strongly 
influenced by associations. The recurrence of anniversa- 
13 


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ries, or of longer periods of time, naturally freshens the 
recollection, and deepens the impression, of events with 
which they are historically connected. Renowned places, 
also, have a power to awaken feeling, which all acknowl¬ 
edge. No American can pass by the fields of Bunker Hill, 
Monmouth, and Camden, as if they were ordinary spots on 
the earth’s surface. Whoever visits them feels the senti¬ 
ment of love of country kindling anew, as if the spirit that 
belonged to the transactions which have rendered these 
places distinguished still hovered round, with power to move 
and excite all who in future time may approach them. 

But neither of these sources of emotion equals the power 
with which great moral examples affect the mind. When 
sublime virtues cease to be abstractions, when they become 
embodied in human character, and exemplified in human 
conduct, we should be false to our own nature, if we did not 
indulge in the spontaneous effusions of our gratitude and 
our admiration. A true lover of the virtue of patriotism 
delights to contemplate its purest models ; and that love of 
country may be well suspected which affects to soar so high 
into the regions of sentiment as to be lost and absorbed in 
the abstract feeling, and becomes too elevated or too refined 
to glow with fervor in the commendation or the love of in¬ 
dividual benefactors. All this is unnatural. It is as if one 
should be so enthusiastic a lover of poetry as to care noth¬ 
ing for Homer or Milton ; so passionately attached to elo¬ 
quence as to be indifferent to Tully and Chatham ; or such a 
devotee to the arts, in such an ecstasy with the elements of 
beauty, proportion, and expression, as to regard the master¬ 
pieces of Raphael and Michael Angelo with coldness or 
contempt. We may be assured, Gentlemen, that he who 
really loves the thing itself, loves its finest exhibitions. A 
true friend of his country loves her friends and benefactors, 
and thinks it no degradation to commend and commemorate 
them. The voluntary outpouring of the public feeling, made 
to-day, from the North to the South, and from the East to the 
West, proves this sentiment to be both just and natural. In 
the cities and in the villages, in the public temples and in the 
family circles, among all ages and sexes, gladdened voices 




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to-day bespeak grateful hearts and a freshened recollection 
of the virtues of the Father of his Country. And it will be 
so, in all time to come, so long as public virtue is itself an 
object of regard. The ingenuous youth of America will hold 
up to themselves the bright model of Washington’s example, 
and study to be what they behold; they will contemplate 
his character till all its virtues spread out and display them¬ 
selves to their delighted vision ; as the earliest astronomers, 
the shepherds on the plains of Babylon, gazed at the stars 
till they saw them form into clusters and constellations, 
overpowering at length the eyes of the beholders with the 
united blaze of a thousand lights. 

Gentlemen, we are at the point of a century from the 
birth of Washington ; and what a century it has been! 
During its course, the human mind has seemed to proceed 
with a sort of geometric velocity, accomplishing, for hu¬ 
man intelligence and human freedom, more than had been 
done in fives or tens of centuries preceding. Washington 
stands at the commencement of a new era, as well as at the 
head of the New World. A century from the birth of 
Washington has changed the world. The country of Wash¬ 
ington has been the theatre on which a great part of that 
change has been wrought; and Washington himself a prin¬ 
cipal agent by which it has been accomplished. Ilis age 
and his country are equally full of wonders ; and of both he 
is the chief. 

If the poetical prediction, uttered a few years before his 
birth, be true ; if indeed it be designed by Providence that 
the grandest exhibition of human character and human 
affairs shall be made on this theatre of the Western world; 
if it be true that, 

“ The four first acts already past, 

A fifth shall close the drama of the day; 

Time’s noblest offspring is the last; ” 

how could this imposing, swelling, final scene be appropri¬ 
ately opened, how could its intense interest be adequately 
sustained, but by the introduction of just such a character 
as our Washington ? 


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♦Washington had attained his manhood when that spark 
of liberty was struck out in his own country, which has since 
kindled into a flame, find shot its beams over the earth* In 
the flow of a century from his birth, the world has changed 
in science, in arts, in the extent of commerce, in the im¬ 
provement of navigation, and in all that relates to the civili¬ 
zation of man. But it is the spirit of human freedom, the 
new elevation of individual man, in his moral, social, and 
political character, leading the whole long train of other 
improvements, which has most remarkably distinguished the 
era. Society, in this century, has not made its progress, like 
Chinese skill, by a greater acuteness of ingenuity in trifles ; 
it has not merely lashed itself to an increased speed round 
the old circles of thought and action ; but it has assumed a 
new character ; it has raised itself from beneath governments 
to a participation in governments ; it has mixed moral and 
political objects with the daily pursuits of individual men ; 
and, with a freedom and strength before altogether unknown, 
it has applied to these objects the whole power of the hu¬ 
man understanding. It has been the era, in short, when the 
social principle has triumphed over the feudal principle ; 
when society has maintained its rights against military 
power, and established, on foundations never hereafter to be 
shaken, its competency to govern itself. 

It was the extraordinary fortune of Washington, that, hav¬ 
ing been intrusted, in revolutionary times, with the supreme 
military command, and having fulfilled that trust with equal 
renown for wisdom and for valor, lie should be placed at the 
head of the first government in which an attempt was to be 
made on a large scale to rear the fabric of social order on the 
basis of a written constitution and of a pure representative 
principle. A government was to be established, without a 
throne, without an aristocracy, without castes, orders, or 
privileges ; and this government, instead of being a democ¬ 
racy, existing and acting within the walls of a single city, 
was to be extended over a vast country, of different climates, 
interests, and habits, and of various communions of our 
common Christian faith. The experiment certainly was 
entirely ne\y. A popular government of this extent, it was 


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evident, could be framed only by carrying into full effect 
the principle of representation or of delegated power; and 
the world was to see whether society could, by the strength 
of this principle, maintain its own peace and good govern¬ 
ment, carry forward its own great interests, and conduct 
itself to political renown and glory. By the benignity of 
Providence, this experiment, so full of interest to us and to our 
posterity for ever, so full of interest, indeed, to the world in 
its present generation and in all its generations to come, was 
suffered to commence under the guidance of Washington. 
Destined for this high career, he was fitted for it by wisdom, 
by virtue, by patriotism, by discretion, by whatever can in¬ 
spire confidence in man toward man. In entering on the 
untried scenes, early disappointment and the premature ex¬ 
tinction of all hope of success would have been certain, had 
it not been that there did exist throughout the country, in a 
most extraordinary degree, an unwavering trust in him who 
stood at the helm. 

I remarked, Gentlemen, that the whole world was and is 
interested in the result of this experiment. And is it not 
so ? Do we deceive ourselves, or is it true that at this 
moment the career which „this government is running is 
among the most attractive objects to the civilized world 1 
Do we deceive ourselves, or is it true that at this moment 
that love of liberty and that understanding of its true princi¬ 
ples which are flying over the whole earth, as on the wings 
of all the winds, are really and truly of American origin ? 

The principles of Washington’s administration are not 
left doubtful. They are to be found in the Constitution 
itself, in the great measures recommended and approved by 
him, in his speeches to Congress, and in that most interest¬ 
ing paper, his Farewell Address to the People of the United 
States. The success of the government under his adminis¬ 
tration is the highest proof of the soundness of these princi¬ 
ples. And, after an experience of thirty-five years, what is 
there which an enemy could condemn 1 What is there 
which either his friends, or the friends of the country, could 
wish to have been otherwise 1 I speak, of course, of great 
measures and leading principles. 

13 * 





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His principle it was to act right, and to trust the people, 
for support; his principle it was not to follow the lead of 
sinister and selfish ends, nor to rely on the little arts of party 
delusion to obtain public sanction for such a course. Born 
for his country and for the world, he did not give up to party 
what was meant for mankind. The consequence is, that 
his fame is as durable as his principles, as lasting as truth 
and virtue themselves. While the hundreds whom party 
excitement, and temporary circumstances, and casual com¬ 
binations, have raised into transient notoriety, sink again, 
like thin bubbles, bursting and dissolving into the great 
ocean, Washington’s fame is like the rock which bounds 
that ocean, and at whose feet its billows are destined to 
break harmlessly for ever. 

The maxims upon which Washington conducted our for¬ 
eign relations were few and simple. The first was an entire 
and indisputable impartiality towards foreign states. He 
adhered to this rule of public conduct, against very strong 
inducements to depart from it, and when the popularity of 
the moment seemed, to favor such a departure. In the next 
place, he maintained true dignity and unsullied honor in all 
communications with foreign states. It was among; the high 
duties devolved upon him, to introduce our new government 
into the circle of civilized states and powerful nations. Not 
arrogant or assuming, with no unbecoming or supercilious 
bearing, he yet exacted for it from all others entire and 
punctilious respect. He demanded, and he obtained at 
once, a standing of perfect equality for his country in the 
society of nations*; nor was there a prince or potentate of 
his day, whose personal character carried with it, into the 
intercourse of other states, a greater degree of respect and 
veneration. 

He regarded other nations only as they stood in political 
relations to us. With their internal affairs, their political 
parties and dissensions, he scrupulously abstained from all 
interference; and, on the other hand, he repelled with spirit 
all such interference by others with us or our concerns. 
His sternest rebuke, the most indignant measure of his 
whole administration, was aimed against such an attempted 


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interference. He felt it as an attempt to wound the nation¬ 
al honor, and resented it accordingly. 

The reiterated admonitions in his Farewell Address show 
his deep fears that foreign influence would insinuate itself 
into our counsels through the channels of domestic dissen¬ 
sion, and obtain a sympathy with our own temporary par¬ 
ties. Against all such^dangers, he most earnestly entreats 
the country to guard itself. He appeals to its patriotism, to 
its self-respect, to its own honor, to every consideration 
connected with its welfare and happiness, to resist, at the 
very beginning, all tendencies towards such connection of 
foreign interests with our own affairs. With a tone of ear¬ 
nestness nowhere else found, even in his last affectionate fare¬ 
well advice to his countrymen, he says, “ Against the insid¬ 
ious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to believe me, 
fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be 
constantly awake ; since history and experience prove, that 
foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republi¬ 
can government.” 

Lastly, on the subject of foreign relations, Washington 
never forgot that we had interests peculiar to ourselves. 
The primary political concerns of Europe, he saw, did not 
affect us. We had nothing to do with her balance of power, 
her family compacts, or her successions to thrones. We 
were placed in a condition favorable to neutrality during 
European wars, and to the enjoyment of all the great ad¬ 
vantages of that relation. “ Why, then,” he asks us, “ why 
forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation 1 Why 
quit our own to stand upon foreign ground 1 Why, by 
interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, 
entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European 
ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice 1 ” 

Indeed, Gentlemen, Washington’s Farewell Address is full 
of truths important at all times, and particularly deserving 
consideration at the present. With a sagacity which brought 
the future before him, and made it like the present, he saw 
and pointed out the dangers that even at this moment most 
imminently threaten us. I hardly know how a greater service 
of that kind could now be done to the community, than by 


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a renewed and wide diffusion of that admirable paper, and 
an earnest invitation to every man in the country to reperuse 
and consider it. Its political maxims are invaluable ; its ex¬ 
hortations to love of country and to brotherly affection 
among citizens, touching; and the solemnity with which it 
urges the observance of moral duties, and impresses the 
power of religious obligation, gives to it the highest char¬ 
acter of truly disinterested, sincere, parental advice. 

The domestic policy of Washington found its polestar in 
the avowed objects of the Constitution itself. He sought so 
to administer that Constitution, as to form a more perfect 
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide 
for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and 
secure the blessings of liberty. These were objects interest¬ 
ing, in the highest degree, to the whole country, and his 
policy embraced the whole country. 

Among his earliest and most important duties was the or¬ 
ganization of the government itself, the choice of his confi¬ 
dential advisers, and the various appointments to office. 
This duty, so important and delicate, when a whole govern¬ 
ment was to be organized, and all its offices for the first time 
filled, was yet not difficult to him ; for he had no sinister 
ends to accomplish, no clamorous partisans to gratify, no 
pledges to redeem, no object to be regarded but simply the 
public good. It was a plain, straightforward matter, a mere 
honest choice of good men for the public service. 

His own singleness of purpose, his disinterested pa¬ 
triotism, were evinced by the selection of his first cabinet, 
aftd by the manner in which he filled the seats of justice, 
and other places of high trust. He sought for men fit for 
offices ; not for offices which might suit men. Above per¬ 
sonal considerations, above local considerations, above party 
considerations, he felt that he could only discharge the sacred 
trust which the country had placed in his hands, by a dili¬ 
gent inquiry after real merit, and a conscientious preference 
of virtue and talent. The whole country was the field of 
his selection. He explored that whole field, looking only 
for whatever it contained most worthy and distinguished. 
He ,was, indeed, most successful, and he deserved success 


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for the purity of his motives, the liberality of his sentiments, 
and his enlarged and manly policy. 

Washington’s administration established the national credit, 
made provision for the public debt, and for that patriotic 
army whose interests and welfare were always so dear to 
him ; and, by laws wisely framed, and of admirable effect, 
raised the commerce and navigation of the country, almost 
at once, from depression and ruin to a state of prosperity. 
Nor were his eyes open to these interests alone. He viewed 
with equal concern its agriculture and manufactures, and, so 
far as they came within the regular exercise of the powers 
of this government, they experienced regard and favor. 

It should not be omitted, even in this slight reference to 
the general measures and general principles of the first 
President, that he saw and felt the full value and importance 
of the judicial department of the government. An upright 
and able administration of the laws he held to be alike in¬ 
dispensable to private happiness and public liberty. The 
temple of justice, in his opinion, was a sacred place, and he 
would profane and pollute it who should call any to minister 
in it, not spotless in character, not incorruptible in integrity, 
not competent by talent and learning, not a fit object of 
unhesitating trust. 

& . . . 

Among other admonitions, Washington has left us, in his 

communication to his country, an exhortation against the 
excesses of party spirit. A fire not to be quenched, he yet 
conjures us not to fan and feed the flame. Undoubtedly, 
Gentlemen, it is the greatest danger of our system and of 
our time. Undoubtedly, if that system should be over¬ 
thrown, it will be the work of excessive party spirit, acting 
on the government, which is dangerous .enough, or acting in 
the government, which is a thousand times more dangerous ; 
for government then becomes nothing but organized party, 
and, in the strangq vicissitudes of human affairs, it may come 
at last, perhaps, to exhibit the singular paradox of govern¬ 
ment itself being in opposition to its own powers, at war with 
the very elements of its own existence. Such cases are 
hopeless. As men may be protected against murder, but 
cannot be guarded against suicide, so government may be 


* 


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shielded from the assaults of external foes, but nothing can 
save it when it chooses to lay violent hands on itself. 

Finally, Gentlemen, there was in the breast of Washing¬ 
ton one sentiment so deeply felt, so constantly uppermost, 
that no proper occasion escaped without its utterance. From 
the letter which he signed in behalf of the Convention when 
the Constitution was sent out to the people, to the moment 
when he put his hand to that last paper in which he ad¬ 
dressed his countrymen, the Union — the Union was the 
great object of his thoughts. In that first letter he tells 
them that, to him and his brethren of the Convention, urfion 
appears to be the greatest interest of every true American ; 
and in that last paper he conjures them to regard that unity 
of government which constitutes them one people as the 
very palladium of their prosperity and safety, and the secu¬ 
rity of liberty itself. He regarded the union of these States 
less as one of our blessings, than as the great treasure house 
which contained them all. Here, in his judgment, was the 
great magazine of all our means of prosperity ; here, as he 
thought, and as every true American still thinks, are de¬ 
posited all our animating prospects, all our solid hopes for 
future greatness. He has taught us to maintain this union, 
not by seeking to enlarge the powers of the government, on 
the one hand, nor by surrendering them, on the other ; but 
by an administration of them at once firm and moderate, 
pursuing objects truly national, and carried on in a spirit of 
justice and equity. 

The extreme solicitude for the preservation of the Union, 
at all times manifested by him, shows not only the opinion 
he entertained of its importance, but his clear perception of 
those causes which were likely to spring up to endanger it, 
and which, if once they should overthrow the present sys¬ 
tem, would leave little hope of any future beneficial reunion. 
Of all the presumptions indulged by presumptuous man, that 
is one of the rashest which looks for repeated and favorable 
opportunities for the deliberate establishment of a united 
government over distinct and widely-extended communities. 
Such a thing has happened once in human affairs, and but 
once; the event stands out as a prominent exception to all 





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ordinary history ; and unless we suppose ourselves running 
into an age of miracles, we may not expect its repetition. 

Washington, therefore, could regard, and did regard, 
nothing as of paramount political interest, but the integrity 
of the Union itself. With a united government, well ad¬ 
ministered, he saw that we had nothing to fear ; and without 
it, nothing to hope. The sentiment is just, and its moment¬ 
ous truth should solemnly impress the whole country. If 
we might regard our country as personated in the spirit of 
Washington, if we might consider him as representing her, 
in her past renown, her present prosperity, and her future 
career, and as in that character demanding of us all to ac¬ 
count for our conduct, as political men or as private citizens, 
how should he answer him who has ventured to talk of dis¬ 
union and dismemberment 1 Or how should he answer him 
who dwells perpetually on local interests, and fans every 
kindling flame of local prejudice ? How should he answer 
him who would array State against State, interest against in¬ 
terest, and party against party, careless of the continuance 
of that unity of government which constitutes us one people ? 

The political prosperity which this country has attained, 
and which it now enjoys, has been acquired mainly through 
the instrumentality of the present government. While this 
agent continues, the capacity of attaining to still higher de¬ 
grees of prosperity exists also. We have, while this lasts, 
a political life capable of beneficial exertion, with power to 
resist or overcome misfortunes, to sustain us against the 
ordinary accidents of human affairs, and to promote, by 
active efforts) every public interest. But dismemberment 
strikes at the very being which preserves these faculties. It 
would lay its rude and ruthless hand on this great agent 
itself. It would sweep away, not only what we possess, but 
all power of regaining lost, or acquiring new possessions. 
It would leave the country, not only bereft of its prosperity 
and happiness, but without limbs, or organs, or faculties, by 
which to exert itself hereafter in the pursuit of that pros¬ 
perity and happiness. 

Other misfortunes may be borne, or their effects over¬ 
come. If disastrous war should sweep our commerce from 


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the ocean, another generation may renew it; if it exhaust 
our treasury, future industry may replenish it; if it desolate 
and lay waste our fields, still, under a new cultivation, they 
will grow green again, and ripen to future harvests. It 
were but a trifle even if the walls of yonder Capitol were to 
crumble, if its lofty pillars should fall, and its gorgeous 
decorations be all covered by the dust of the valley. All 
these might be rebuilt. But who shall reconstruct the fabric 
of demolished government 1 Who shall rear again the 
well-proportioned columns of constitutional liberty 1 Who 
shall frame together the skilful architecture which unites 
national sovereignty with*State rights, individual security, 
and public prosperity ? No, if these columns fall, they will 
be raised not again. Like the Coliseum and the Parthenon, 
they will be destined to a mournful, a melancholy # immor¬ 
tality. Bitterer tears, however, will flow over them, than 
were ever shed over the monuments of Roman or Grecian 
art; for they will be the remnants of a more glorious edifice 
than Greece or Rome ever saw, the edifice of constitutional 
American liberty. 

But let us hope for better things. Let us trust in that 
gracious Being who has hitherto held our country as in the 
hollow of his hand. Let us trust to the virtue and frhe intelli¬ 
gence of the people, and to the efficacy of religious obliga¬ 
tion. Let us trust to the influence of Washington’s ex¬ 
ample. Let us hope that that fear of Heaven which expels 
all other fear, and that regard to duty which transcends all 
other regard, may influence public men and private citizens, 
and lead our country still onward in her happy career. Full 
of these gratifying anticipations and hopes, let us look for¬ 
ward to the end of that century which is now commenced. 
A hundred years hence, other disciples of Washington will 
celebrate his birth, with no less of sincere admiration than 
we now commemorate it. When they shall meet, as we 
now meet, to do themselves and him that honor, so surely 
as they shall see the blue summits of his native mountains 
rise in the horizon, so surely as they shall behold the river 
on whose banks he lived, and on whose banks he rests, still 
flowing on toward the sea, so surely may they see, as we 


/ 


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now see, the flag of the Union floating on the top of the 
Capitol; and then, as now, may the sun in his course visit no 
land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own 
country ! 

Gentlemen, I propose — “ The Memory of George 
Washington.” 


THE CONSTITUTION NOT A COMPACT BETWEEN SOVEREIGN 

STATES. 

Speech delivered in the Senate of the United States, on the 16 th of February, 1833, in 

Reply to Mr. Calhoun's Speech, on the Bill “ further to provide for the Collection of 

Duties on Imports 

On the 21st of January, 1833, Mr. Wilkins, Chairman of the Judi¬ 
ciary Committee of the Senate, introduced the bill further to provide for 
the collection of duties. On the 22d day of the same month, Mr. Cal¬ 
houn submitted three resolutions, and on Saturday, the 16th of Feb¬ 
ruary, he spoke in opposition to the bill, and in support of his resolu¬ 
tions. 

He was followed by Mr. Webster. 

Mr. President, — The gentleman from South Carolina 
has admonished us to be mindful of the opinions of those 
who shall come after us. We must take our chance, Sir, 
as to the light in which posterity will regard us. I do not 
decline its judgment, nor withhold myself from its scrutiny. 
Feeling that I am performing my public duty with single¬ 
ness of heart and to the best of my ability, I fearlessly trust 
myself to the country, now and hereafter, and leave both 
my motives and my character to its decision. 

The gentleman has terminated his speech in a tone of 
threat and defiance towards this bill, even should it be¬ 
come a law of the land, altogether unusual in the halls of 
Congress. But I shall not suffer myself to be excited into 
warmth by his denunciation of the measure which I sup¬ 
port. Among the feelings which at this moment fill my 
breast, not the least is that of regret at the position in 
which the gentleman has placed himself. Sir, he does him¬ 
self no justice. The cause which he has espoused finds no 
basis in the Constitution, no succor from public sympathy, 
no cheering from a patriotic community. He has no foot- 
14 


i 



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hold on which to stand while he might display the powers 
of his acknowledged talents. Every thing beneath his feet 
is hollow and treacherous. He is like a strong man strug¬ 
gling in a morass; every effort to extricate himself only 
sinks him deeper and deeper. And I fear the resemblance 
may be carried still further; I fear that no friend can safely 
come to his relief, that no one can approach near enough to 
hold out a helping hand, without danger of going down 
himself, also, into the bottomless depths of this Serbonian 
bog. 

The honorable gentleman has declared, that on the decis¬ 
ion of the question now in debate may depend the cause of 
liberty itself. I am of the same opinion ; but then, Sir, the 
liberty which I think is staked on the contest is not political 
liberty, in any general and undefined character, but our own 
well-understood and long-enjoyed American liberty. 

Sir, I love Liberty no less ardently than the gentleman 
himself, in whatever form she may have appeared in the 
progress of human history. As exhibited in the master 
states of antiquity, as breaking out again from amidst the 
darkness of the Middle Ages, and beaming on the forma¬ 
tion of new communities in modern Europe, she has, al¬ 
ways and every where, charms for me. Yet, Sir, it is our 
own liberty, guarded by constitutions and secured by union, 
it is that liberty which is our paternal inheritance, it is our 
established, dear-bought, peculiar American liberty, to which 
I am chiefly devoted, and the cause of which I now mean, 
to the utmost of my power, to maintain and defend. 

Mr. President, if I considered the constitutional question 
now before us as doubtful as it is important, and if I sup¬ 
posed that its decision, either in the Senate or by the coun¬ 
try, was likely to be in any degree influenced by the manner 
in which I might now discuss it, this would be to me a 
moment of deep solicitude. Such a moment has once 
existed. There has been a time, when, rising in this place, 
on the same question, I felt, 1 must confess, that something 
for good or evil to the Constitution of the country might 
depend on an effort of mine. But circumstances are 
changed. Since that day, Sir, the public opinion has 


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become awakened to this great question ; it has grasped it; 
it has reasoned upon it, as becomes an intelligent and patri¬ 
otic community, and has settled it, or now seems in the 
progress of settling it, by an authority which none can dis¬ 
obey, the authority of the people themselves. 

I shall not, Mr. President, follow the gentleman, step by 
step, through the course of his speech. Much of what he 
has said he has deemed necessary to the just explanation 
and defence of his own political character and conduct. On 
this I shall offer no comment. Much, too, has consisted of 
philosophical remark upon the general nature of political 
liberty, and the history of free institutions; and upon other 
topics, so general in their nature as to possess, in my opin¬ 
ion, only a remote bearing on tfie immediate subject of this 
debate. 

But the gentleman’s speech made some days ago, upon 
introducing his resolutions, those resolutions themselves, and 
parts of the speech now just concluded, may, I presume, be 
justly regarded as containing the whole South Carolina doc¬ 
trine. That doctrine it is my purpose now to examine, and 
to compare it with the Constitution of the United States. I 
shall not consent, Sir, to make any new constitution, or to 
establish another farm of government. I will not undertake 
to say what a constitution for these United States ought to 
be. That question the people have decided for themselves; 
and I shall take the instrument as they have established it, 
and shall endeavor to maintain it, in its plain sense and 
meaning, against opinions and notions which, in my judg¬ 
ment, threaten its subversion. 

The resolutions introduced by the gentleman were appar¬ 
ently drawn up with care, and brought forward upon delib¬ 
eration. I shall not be in danger, therefore, of misunder¬ 
standing him, or those who agree with him, if I proceed at 
once to these resolutions, and consider them as an authentic 
statement of those opinions upon the great constitutional 
< uestion, by which the recent proceedings in South Carolina 
are attempted to be justified. 

These resolutions are three in number. 

The third seems intended to enumerate, and to deny, the 


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several opinions expressed in the President’s proclamation, 
respecting the nature and powers of this government. Of 
this third resolution, I purpose, at present, to take no par¬ 
ticular notice. 

The first two resolutions of the honorable member affirm 
these propositions, viz.: — 

1. That the political system under which we live, and 
under which Congress is now assembled, is a compact , to 
which the people of the several States, as separate and sov¬ 
ereign communities, are the parties. 

2. That these sovereign parties have a right to judge, 
each for itself, of any alleged violation of the Constitution 
by Congress; and, in case of such violation, to choose, each 
for itself, its own mode and measure of redress. 

It is true, Sir, that the honorable member calls this a 
“ constitutional ” compact; but still he affirms it to be a 
compact between sovereign States. What precise meaning, 
then, does he attach to the term constitutional ? When 
applied to compacts between sovereign States, the term con¬ 
stitutional affixes to the word compact no definite idea. 
Were we to hear of a constitutional league or treaty 
between England and France, or a constitutional convention 
between Austria and Russia, we should not understand what 
could be intended by such a league, such a treaty, or such a 
convention. In these connections, the word is void of all 
meaning; and yet, Sir, it is easy, quite easy, to see why 
the honorable gentleman has used it in these resolutions. 
He cannot open the book, and look upon our written frame 
of government, without seeing that it is called a constitution. 
This may well be appalling to him. It threatens his whole 
doctrine of compact, and its darling derivatives, nullification 
and secession, with instant confutation. Because, if he 
admits our instrument of government to be a constitution , 
then, for that very reason, it is not a compact between sov¬ 
ereigns; a constitution of government and a compact be¬ 
tween sovereign powers being things essentially unlike 
in their very natures, and incapable of ever being the 
same. Yet the word constitution is on the very front of the 
instrument. He cannot overlook it. He seeks, therefore, 


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to compromise the matter, and to sink all the substantial 
sense of the word, while he retains a resemblance of its 
sound. He introduces a new word of his own, viz., compact , 
as importing the principal idea, and designed to play the 
principal part, and degrades constitution into an insignificant, 
idle epithet, attached to compact. The whole then stands as 
a “ constitutional compact /” And in this way he hopes to 
pass off a plausible gloss, as satisfying the words of the 
instrument. But he will find himself disappointed. Sir, I 
must say to the honorable gentleman, that, in our American 
political grammar, constitution is a noun substantive; it 
imports a distinct and clear idea of itself; and it is.not to 
lose its importance and dignity, it is not to be turned into a 
poor, ambiguous, senseless, unmeaning adjective, for the 
purpose of accommodating any new set of political notions. 
Sir, we reject his new rules of syntax altogether. We will 
not give up our forms of political speech to the grammari¬ 
ans of the school of nullification. By the Constitution, we 
mean, not a “constitutional compact,” but, simply and 
directly the Constitution, the fundamental law ; and if there 
be one word in the language which the people of the United 
States understand, this is that word. We know no more of 
a constitutional compact between sovereign powers, than we 
know of a constitutional indenture of copartnership, a consti¬ 
tutional deed of conveyance, or a constitutional bill of ex¬ 
change.^ But we know what the Constitution is; we know 
what the plainly written, fundamental law is; we know 
what the bond of our Union and the security of our liber¬ 
ties is; and we mean to maintain and to defend it, in its plain 
sense and unsophisticated meaning. 

The sense of the gentleman’s proposition, therefore, is 
not at all affected, one way or the other, by the use of this 
word. That proposition still is, that our system of govern¬ 
ment is but a compact between the people of separate and 
sovereign States. 

Was it Mirabeau, Mr. President, or some other master 
of the human passions, who has told us that words are 
things 1 They are indeed things, and things of mighty influ¬ 
ence, not only in addresses to the passions and high-wrought 
14 * 


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feelings of mankind, but in the discussion of legal and polit¬ 
ical questions also; because a just conclusion is often avoid¬ 
ed, or a false one reached, by the adroit substitution of one 
phrase, or one word, for another. Of this we have, I think, 
another example in the resolutions before us. 

The first resolution declares that the people of the sev¬ 
eral States “ acceded ” to the Constitution, or to the consti¬ 
tutional compact, as it is called. This word “accede,” not 
found either in the Constitution itself, or in the ratification 
of it by any one of the States, has been chosen for use 
here, doubtless, not without a well-considered purpose. 

The natural converse of accession is secession; and, there¬ 
fore, when it is stated that the people of the States acceded 
to the Union, it may be more plausibly argued that they may 
secede from it. If, in adopting the Constitution, nothing 
was done but acceding to a compact, nothing would seem 
necessary, in order to break it up, but to secede from the 
same compact. But the term is wholly out of place. Ac- 
cession , as a word applied to political associations, implies 
coming into a league, treaty, or confederacy, by one hitherto 
a stranger to it; and secession implies departing from such 
league or confederacy. The people of the United States 
have use<J no such form of expression in establishing the 
present government. They do not say that they accede to a 
league, but they declare that they ordain and establish a Con¬ 
stitution. Such are the very words of the instrument itself; 
and in all the States, without an exception, the language 
used by their conventions was, that they “ratified the Con¬ 
stitution > •” some of them employing the additional words 
“assented to” and “adopted,” but all of them “ratifying.” 

Therefore, Sir, since any State, before she can prove her 
right to dissolve the Union, must show her authority to undo 
what has been done, no State is at liberty to secede , on the 
ground that she and other States have done nothing but 
accede. She must show that she has a right to reverse what 
has been ordained., to unsettle and overthrow what has been 
established , to reject what the people have adopted , and to 
break up what they have ratified; because these are the 
terms which express the transactions which have actually 


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163 


taken place. In other words, she must show her right to 
make a revolution. 

The Constitution does not provide for events which must 
be preceded by its own destruction. Secession, therefore, 
since it must bring these consequences with it, is revolu¬ 
tionary, and nullification is equally revolutionary. 
What is revolution 1 Why, Sir, that is revolution which 
overturns, or controls, or successfully resists, the existing 
publio authority; that which arrests the exercise of the su¬ 
preme power; that which introduces a new paramount 
authority into the rule of the State. Now, Sir, this is the 
precise object of nullification. It attempts to supersede the 
supreme legislative authority. It arrests the arm of the 
executive magistrate. It interrupts the exercise of the ac¬ 
customed judicial power. Under the name of an ordinance, 
it declares null and void, within the State, all the revenue 
laws of the United States. Is not this revolutionary ? Sir, 
so soon as this ordinance shall be carried into effect, a revo¬ 
lution will have commenced in South Carolina. She will 
have thrown off the authority to which her citizens have 
heretofore been subject. She will have declared her own 
opinions and her own will to be above the laws and above 
the power of those who are intrusted with their administra¬ 
tion. If she makes good these declarations, she is revolu¬ 
tionized. As to her, it is as distinctly a change of the 
supreme power, as the American Revolution of 1776. 
That revolution did not subvert government in all its forms. 
It did not subvert local laws and municipal administrations. 
It only threw off the dominion of a power claiming to be 
superior, and to have a right, in many important respects, to 
exercise legislative authority. Thinking this authority to 
have been usurped or abused, the American Colonies, now 
the United States, bade it defiance, and freed themselves 
from it by means of a revolution. But that revolution left 
them with their own municipal laws still, and the forms of 
local government. If Carolina now shall effectually resist 
the laws of Congress ; if she shall be her own judge, take 
her remedy into her own hands, obey the laws of the Union 
when she pleases and disobey them when she pleases, she 


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will relieve herself from a paramount power as distinctly as 
the American Colonies did the same thing in 1776. In 
other words, she will achieve, as to herself, a revolution. 

But, Sir, while practical nullification in South Carolina 
would be, as to herself, actual and distinct revolution, its 
necessary tendency must also be to spread revolution, and to 
break up the Constitution, as to all the other States. It 
strikes a deadly blow at the vital principle of the whole 
Union. To allow State resistance to the laws of Congress 
to be rightful and proper, to admit nullification in some 
States, and yet not expect to see a dismemberment of the 
entire government, appears to me the wildest illusion, and 
the most extravagant folly. The gentleman seems not con¬ 
scious of the direction or the rapidity of his own course. 
The current of his opinions sweeps him along, he knows 
not whither. To begin with nullification, with the avowed 
intent, nevertheless, not to proceed to secession, dismember¬ 
ment, and general revolution, is as if one were to take the 
plunge of Niagara, and cry out that he would stop half way 
down. In the one case, as in the other, the rash adventurer 
must go to the bottom of the dark abyss below, were it not 
that that abyss has no discovered bottom. 

Such, Sir, are the inevitable results of this doctrine. 
Beginning with the original error, that the Constitution of 
the United States is nothing but a compact between sover¬ 
eign States; asserting, in the next step, that each State has 
a right to be its own sole judge of the extent of its own ob¬ 
ligations, and consequently of the constitutionality of laws of 
Congress ; and, in the next, that it may oppose whatever it 
sees fit to declare unconstitutional, and that it decides for 
itself on the mode and measure of redress, — the argument 
arrives at once at the conclusion, that what a State dissents 
from, it may nullify ; what it opposes, it may oppose by 
force ; what it decides for itself, it may execute by its own 
power; and that, in short, it is itself supreme over the legis¬ 
lation of Congress, and supreme over the decisions of the 
national judicature ; supreme over the constitution of the 
country, supreme over the supreme law of the land. How¬ 
ever it seeks to protect itself against these plain inferences, 


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by saying that an unconstitutional law is no law, and that it 
only opposes such laws as are unconstitutional, yet this does 
not in the slightest degree vary the result; since it insists on 
deciding this question for itself; and, in opposition to reason 
and argument, in opposition to practice and experience, in 
opposition to the judgment of others, having an equal right 
to judge, it says, only, “ Such is my opinion, and my opin¬ 
ion shall be my law, and I will support it by my own strong 
hand. I denounce the law; I declare it unconstitutional; 
that is enough; it shall not be executed. Men in arms are 
ready to resist its execution. An attempt to enforce it shall 
cover the land with blood. Elsewhere it may be binding; 
but here it is trampled under foot.” 

This, Sir, is practical nullification. 

And now, Sir, against all these theories and opinions, I 
maintain, — 

1. That the Constitution of the United States is not a 
league, confederacy, or compact between the people of the 
several States in their sovereign capacities ; but a govern¬ 
ment proper, founded on the adoption of the people, and 
creating direct relations between itself and individuals. 

2. That no State authority has power to dissolve these 
relations; that nothing can dissolve them but revolution; 
and that, consequently, there can be no such thing as seces¬ 
sion without revolution. 

3. That there is a supreme law, consisting of the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States, and acts of Congress passed 
in pursuance of it, and treaties ; and that, in cases not 
capable of assuming the character of a suit in law or equity, 
Congress must judge of, and finally interpret, this supreme 
law so often as it has occasion to pass acts of legislation ; 
and in cases capable of assuming, and actually assuming, 
the character of a suit, the Supreme Court of the United 
States is the final interpreter. 

4. That an attempt by a State to abrogate, annul, or nul¬ 
lify an act of Congress, or to arrest its operation within her 
limits, on the ground that, in her opinion, such law is un¬ 
constitutional, is a direct usurpation on the just powers of 
the general government, and on the equal rights of other 


168 


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States; a plain violation of the Constitution, and a proceed¬ 
ing essentially revolutionary in its character and tendency. 

Whether the Constitution be a compact between States in 
their sovereign capacities, is a question which must be mainly 
argued from what is contained in the instrument itself. We 
agree that it is an instrument which has been in some way 
clothed with power. We all admit that it speaks with au¬ 
thority. The first question then is, What does it say of 
itself? What does it purport to be ? Does it style itself a 
league, confederacy, or compact between sovereign States ? 
it is to be remembered, Sir, that the Constitution began to 
speak only after its adoption. Until it was ratified by nine 
States, it was but a proposal, the mere draught of an instru¬ 
ment. It was like a deed drawn, but not executed. The 
Convention had framed it; sent it to Congress, then sitting 
under the Confederation ; Congress had transmitted it to the 
State legislatures; and by these last it was laid before con¬ 
ventions of the people in the several States. All this while 
it was inoperative paper. It had received no stamp of au¬ 
thority, no sanction ; it spoke no language. But when rati¬ 
fied by the people in their respective conventions, then it had 
a voice, and spoke authentically. Every word in it had then 
received the sanction of the popular will, and was to be re¬ 
ceived as the expression of that will. What the Constitu¬ 
tion says of itself, therefore, is as conclusive as what it says 
on any other point. Does it call itself a “ compact ” ? 
Certainly not. It uses the word compact but once, and that 
is when it declares that the States shall enter into no com¬ 
pact. Does it call itself a “ league,” a “ confederacy,” a 
“subsisting treaty between the States”? Certainly not. 
There is not a particle of such language in all its pages. 
But it declares itself a Constitution. What is a constitu¬ 
tion ? Certainly not a league, compact, or confederacy, but 
a fundamental law. That fundamental regulation which de¬ 
termines the manner in which the public authority is to be 
executed, is what forms the constitution of a state. Those 
primary rules which concern the body itself, and the very 
being of the political society, the form of government, and 
the manner in which power is to be exercised, — all, in a 


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word, which form together the constitution of a state, — 
these are the fundamental laws. This, Sir, is the language 
of the public writers. But do we need to be informed, in 
this country, what a constitution is 1 Is it not an idea per¬ 
fectly familiar, definite, and well settled 1 We are at no 
loss to understand what is meant by the constitution of one 
of the States; and the Constitution of the United States 
speaks of itself as being an instrument of the same nature. 
It says, this Constitution shall be the law of the land, any 
thing in any State constitution to the contrary notwithstand¬ 
ing. And it speaks of itself, too, in plain contradistinction 
from a confederation; for it says that all debts contracted, 
and all engagements entered into, by the United States, shall 
be as valid under this Constitution as under the Confedera¬ 
tion. It does not say, as valid under this compact, or this 
league, or this confederation, as under the former confedera¬ 
tion, but as valid under this Constitution. 

It appears to me, Mr. President, that the plainest account 
of the establishment of this government presents the most 
just and philosophical view of its foundation. The people 
of the several States had their separate State governments ; 
and between the States there also existed a Confederation. 
With this condition of things the people were not satisfied, 
as the Confederation had been found not to fulfil its intended 
objects. It w 7 as proposed, therefore, to erect a new, common 
government, which should possess certain definite powers, 
such as regarded the prosperity of the people of all the 
States, and to be formed upon the general model of Ameri¬ 
can constitutions. This proposal was assented to, and an 
instrument was presented to the people of the several States 
for their consideration. They approved it, and agreed to 
adopt it, as a Constitution. They executed that agreement; 
they adopted the Constitution as a Constitution, and hence¬ 
forth it must stand as a Constitution until it shall be alto¬ 
gether destroyed. Now, Sir, is not this the truth of the 
whole matter ? And is not all that we have heard of com¬ 
pact between sovereign States the mere effect of a theoreti¬ 
cal and artificial mode of reasoning upon the subject ? a 
mode of reasoning which disregards plain facts for the sake 
of hypothesis ? 


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The Constitution of the United States creates direct re¬ 
lations between this government and individuals. This gov¬ 
ernment may punish individuals for treason, and all other 
crimes in the code, when committed against the United 
States. It has power, also, to tax individuals, in any mode, 
and to any extent; and it possesses the further power of 
demanding from individuals military service. Nothing, cer¬ 
tainly, can more clearly distinguish a government from a 
confederation of states than the possession of these powers. 
No closer relations can exist between individuals and any 
government. 

On the other hand, the government owes high and solemn 
duties to every citizen of the country. It is bound to protect 
him in his most important rights and interests. It makes 
war for his protection, and no other government in the 
country can make war. It makes peace for his protection, 
and no other government can make peace. It maintains 
armies and navies for his defence and security, and no 
other government is allowed to maintain them. He goes 
abroad beneath its flag, and carries over all the earth a 
national character imparted to him by this government, and 
which no other government can impart. In whatever re¬ 
lates to war, to peace, to commerce, he knows no other 
government. All these, Sir, are connections as dear and as 
sacred as can bind individuals to any government on earth. 
It is not, therefore, a compact between States, but a gov¬ 
ernment proper, operating directly upon individuals, yield¬ 
ing. to them protection on the one hand, and demanding 
from them obedience on the other. 

The truth is, Mr. President, and no ingenuity of argu¬ 
ment, no subtilty of distinction can evade it, that, as to cer¬ 
tain purposes, the people of the United States are one peo¬ 
ple. They are one in making war, and one in making 
peace ; they are one in regulating commerce, and one in 
laying duties of imposts. The very end and purpose of the 
Constitution was, to make them one people in these particu¬ 
lars; audit has effectually accomplished its object. All this 
is apparent on the face of the Constitution itself. I have 
already said, Sir, that to obtain a power of direct legislation 


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over the people, especially in regard to imposts, was always 
prominent as a reason for getting rid of the Confederation, 
and forming a new Constitution. 

Among all the ratifications, there is not one which speaks 
of the Constitution as a compact between States. Those of 
Massachusetts and New Hampshire express the transaction, 
in my opinion, with sufficient accuracy. They recognize 
the Divine goodness “ in affording the people of the 
United States an opportunity of entering into an explicit 
and solemn compact with each other, by assenting to and 
ratifying a new Constitution .” You will observe, Sir, that 
it is the people, and not the States, who have entered into 
this compact; and it is the people of all the United States. 
These conventions, by this form of expression, meant merely 
to say, that the people of the United States had, by the bless¬ 
ing of Providence, enjoyed the opportunity of establishing a 
new Constitution, founded in the consent of the people. This 
consent of the people has been called, by European writers, 
the social compact; and, in conformity to this common mode 
of expression, these conventions speak of that assent, on 
which the new Constitution was to rest, as an explicit and 
solemn compact, not which the States had entered into with 
each other, but which the people of the United States had 
entered into. 

Finally, Sir, how can any man get over the words of the 
Constitution itself? — “We, the people of the United 
States, do ordain and establish this Constitution.” 
These words must cease to be a part of the Constitution, 
they must be obliterated from the parchment on which they 
are written, before any human ingenuity or human argument 
can remove the popular basis on which that Constitution rests, 
and turn the instrument into a mere compact between sov¬ 
ereign States. 

The second proposition, Sir, which I propose to maintain, 
is, that no State authority can dissolve the relations subsist¬ 
ing between the government of the United .States and indi¬ 
viduals; that nothing can dissolve these relations but revo¬ 
lution ; and that, therefore, there can be no such thing as 
secession without revolution. All this follows, as it seems to 
15 


170 


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me, as a just consequence, if it be first proved tha| the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States is a government proper, owing 
protection to individuals, and entitled to their obedience. 

The people, Sir, in every State, live under two govern¬ 
ments. They owe obedience to both. These governments, 
though distinct, are not adverse. Each has its separate 
sphere, and its peculiar powers and duties. It is not a con¬ 
test between two sovereigns for the same power, like the 
wars of the rival houses in England; nor is it a dispute be¬ 
tween a government de facto and a government de jure. It 
is the case of a division of powers between two govern¬ 
ments, made by the people, to whom both are responsible. 
Neither can dispense with the duty which individuals owe to 
the other; neither can call itself master of the other: the 
people are masters of both. This division of power, it is 
true, is in a great measure unknown in Europe. It is the 
peculiar system of America; and, though new and singular, 
it is not incomprehensible. The State constitutions are es¬ 
tablished by the people of the States. This Constitution is 
established by the people of all the States. How, then, can 
a State secede 1 How can a State undo what the whole 
people have done 1 How can she absolve her citizens from 
their obedience to the laws of the United States ? How can 
she annul their obligations and oaths ? How can the mem¬ 
bers of her legislature renounce their own oaths 1 Sir, seces¬ 
sion as a revolutionary right, is intelligible; as a right to be 
proclaimed in the midst of civil commotions, and asserted at 
the head of armies, I can understand it. But as a practical 
right, existing under the Constitution, and in conformity 
with its provisions, it seems to me to be nothing but a plain 
absurdity; for it supposes resistance to government, under 
the authority of government itself; it supposes dismember¬ 
ment, without violating the principles of union; it supposes 
opposition to law, without crime ; it supposes the violation 
of oaths, without responsibility ; it supposes the total over¬ 
throw of government, without revolution. 

The Constitution, Sir, regards itself as perpetual and im¬ 
mortal. It seeks to establish a union among the people of 
the States, which shall last through all time. Or, if the 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


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common fate of things human must be expected at some 
period to happen to it, yet that catastrophe is not an¬ 
ticipated. 

The instrument contains ample provisions for its amend¬ 
ment, at all times ; none for its abandonment, at any time. 
It declares that new States may come into the Union, but it 
does not declare that old States may go out. The Union is 
not a temporary partnership of States. It is the association 
of the people, under a constitution of government, uniting 
their power, joining together their highest interests, cement¬ 
ing their present enjoyments, and blending, in one indivisible 
mass, all their hopes for the future. Whatsoever is stead¬ 
fast in just political principles; whatsoever is permanent in 
the structure of human society; whatsoever there is which 
can derive an enduring character from being founded on 
deep-laid principles of constitutional liberty and on the broad 
foundations of the public will, — all these unite to entitle 
this instrument to be regarded as a permanent constitution 
of government. In the next place, Mr. President, I con¬ 
tend that there is a supreme law of the land, consisting of 
the Constitution, acts of Congress passed in pursuance of it, 
and the public treaties. This will not be denied, because 
such are the very words of the Constitution. But I contend, 
further, that it rightfully belongs to Congress, and to the 
courts of the United States, to settle the construction of this 
supreme law, in doubtful cases. This is denied ; and here 
arises the great practical question, Who is to construe, finally 
the Constitution of the United States? We all agree that the 
Constitution is the supreme law; but who shall interpret 
that law 1 In our system of the division of powers between 
different governments, controversies will necessarily some¬ 
times arise, respecting the extent of the powers of each. 
Who shall decide these controversies 1 Does it rest with 
the general government, in all or any of its departments, tci 
exercise the office of final interpreter 1 Or may each of 
the States, as well as the general government, claim this 
right of ultimate decision ? The practical result of this 
whole debate turns on this point. The gentleman contends 
that each State may judge for itself of any alleged violation of 


172 


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the Constitution, and may finally decide for itself, and may 
execute its own decisions by its own power. All the recent 
proceedings in South Carolina are founded on this claim of 
right. Her convention has pronounced the revenue laws of 
the United States unconstitutional; and this decision she 
does not allow any authority of the United States to over¬ 
rule or reverse. Of course she rejects the authority of 
Congress, because the very object of the ordinance is to 
reverse the decision of Congress; and she rejects, too, the 
authority of the courts of the United States, because she 
expressly prohibits all appeal to those courts. It is in order 
to sustain this asserted right of being her own judge, that 
she pronounces the Constitution of the United States to be 
but a compact, to which she is a party, and a sovereign 
party. If this be established, then the inference is supposed 
to follow, that, being sovereign, there is no power to control 
her decision ; and her own judgment on her own compact 
is, and must be, conclusive. 

I have already endeavored, Sir, to point out the practical 
consequences of this doctrine, and to show how utterly 
inconsistent it is with all ideas of regular government, and 
how soon its adoption would involve the whole country in 
revolution and absolute anarchy. I hope it is easy now to 
show, Sir, that a doctrine bringing such consequences with 
it is not well founded; that it has nothing to stand on but 
theory and assumption ; and that it is refuted by plain and 
express constitutional provisions. I think the government 
of the United States does possess, in its appropriate depart¬ 
ments, the authority of final decision on questions of dis¬ 
puted power. I think it possesses this authority, both by 
necessary implication and by express grant. 

It will not be denied, Sir, that this authority naturally be¬ 
longs to all governments. They all exercise it from neces¬ 
sity, and as a consequence of the exercise of other powers. 
The State governments themselves possess it, except in that 
class of questions which may arise between them and the 
general government, and in regard to which they have sur¬ 
rendered it, as well by the nature of the cage as by clear 
constitutional provisions. In other and ordinary cases, 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


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whether a particular law be in conformity to the constitution 
of the State is a question which the State legislature or the 
State judiciary must determine. We all know that these 
questions arise daily in the State governments, and are 
decided by those governments; and I know no government 
which does not exercise a similar power. 

Upon general principles, then, the government of the 
United States possesses this authority; and this would hardly 
be denied were it not that there are other governments. But 
since there are State governments, and since these, like 
other governments, ordinarily construe their own powers, if 
the government of the United States construes its own pow¬ 
ers also, which construction is to prevail in the case of oppo¬ 
site constructions ? And again, as in the case now actually 
before us, the State governments may undertake, not only to 
construe their own powers, but to decide directly on the 
extent of the powers of Congress. Congress has passed a 
law as being within its just powers; South Carolina denies 
that this law is within its just powers, and insists that she 
has the right so to decide this point, and that her decision is 
final. How are these questions to be settled 1 

In my opinion, Sir, even if the Constitution of the United 
States had made no express provision for such cases, it 
would yet be difficult to maintain, that, in a Constitution 
existing over four and twenty States, with equal authority 
over all, one could claim a right of construing it for the 
whole. This would seem a manifest impropriety; indeed, 
an absurdity. If the Constitution is a government existing 
over all the States, though with limited powers, it necessa¬ 
rily follows that, to the extent of those powers, it must be 
supreme. If it be not superior to the authority of a partic¬ 
ular State, it is not a national government. But as it is a 
government, £is it has a legislative power of its own, and a 
judicial power coextensive with the legislative, the inference 
is irresistible that this government, thus created by the 
whole and/br the whole, must have an authority superior to 
that of the particular government of any one part. Con¬ 
gress is the legislature of all the people of the United 
States; the judiciary of the general government is the judi- 
15 * 


174 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


ciary of all the people of the United States. To hold, 
therefore, that this legislature and this judiciary are subordi¬ 
nate in authority to the legislature and judiciary of a single 
State, is doing violence to all common sense, and overturn¬ 
ing all established principles. Congress must judge of the 
extent of its own powers so often as it is called on to exer¬ 
cise them, or it cannot act at all; and it must also act inde¬ 
pendent of State control, or it cannot act at all. 

The right of State interposition strikes at the very foun¬ 
dation of the legislative power of Congress. It possesses 
no effective legislative power, if such right of State interpo¬ 
sition exists; because it can pass no law not subject to abro¬ 
gation. It cannot make laws for the Union, if any part of 
the Union may pronounce its enactments void and of no 
effect. Its forms of legislation would be an idle ceremony, 
if, after all, any one of four and twenty States might bid 
defiance to its authority. Without express provision in the 
Constitution, therefore, Sir, this whole question is necessa¬ 
rily decided by those provisions which create a legislative 
power and a judicial power. If these exist in a government 
intended for the whole, the inevitable consequence is, that 
the laws of this legislative power and the decisions of this 
judicial power must be binding on and over the whole. No 
man can form the conception of a government existing over 
four and twenty States, with a regular legislative and judi¬ 
cial power, and of the existence at the same time of an 
authority, residing elsewhere, to resist, at pleasure or dis¬ 
cretion, the enactments and the decisions of such a govern¬ 
ment. I maintain, therefore, Sir, that, from the nature of 
the case, and as an inference wholly unavoidable*• the acts 
of Congress and the decisions of the national courts must 
be of higher authority than State laws and State decisions. 
If this be not so, there is, there can be, no general govern¬ 
ment. 

But, Mr. President, the Constitution has not left this car¬ 
dinal point without full and explicit provisions. First, as to 
the authority of Congress. Having enumerated the specific 
powers conferred on Congress, the Constitution adds, as a 
distinct and substantive clause, the following, viz.: “ To 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


175 


make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carry¬ 
ing into execution the foregoing powers, and all other pow¬ 
ers vested by this Constitution in the government of the 
United States, or in any department or officer thereof.” If 
this means any thing, it means that Congress may judge of 
the true extent and just interpretation of the specific powers 
granted to it, and may judge also of what is necessary and 
proper for executing those powers. If Congress is to judge 
of what is necessary for the execution of its powers, it must, 
of necessity, judge of the extent and interpretation of those 
powers. 

And in regard, Sir, to the judiciary, the Constitution is 
still more express and emphatic. It declares that the judi¬ 
cial power shall extend to all cases in law or equity arising 
under the Constitution, laws of the United States, and trea¬ 
ties ; that there shall be one Supreme Court, and that this 
Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction of all these 
cases, subject .to such exceptions as Congress may make. 
It is impossible to escape from the generality of these 
words. If a case arises under the Constitution, that is, if a 
case arises depending on the construction of the Constitu¬ 
tion, the judicial power of the United States extends to it. 
It reaches the case , the question; it attaches the power of the 
national judicature to the case itself, in whatever court it 
may arise or exist; and in this case the Supreme Court has 
appellate jurisdiction over all courts whatever. No language 
could provide with more effect and precision than is here 
done, for subjecting constitutional questions to the ultimate 
decision of the Supreme Court. And, Sir, this is exactly 
what the Convention found it necessary to provide for, and 
intended to provide for. It is, too, exactly what the peo¬ 
ple were universally told was done when they adopted the 
Constitution. One of the first resolutions adopted by the 
Convention was in these words, viz.: “ That the jurisdiction 
of the national judiciary shall extend to cases which respect 
the collection of the national revenue , and questions which 
involve the national peace and harmony.” Now, Sir, this 
either had no sensible meaning at all, or else it meant that 


176 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 

the jurisdiction of the national judiciary should extend to 
these questions, with a paramount authority. 

But, Sir, I hold South Carolina to her ancient,’ her cool, 
her uninfluenced, her deliberate opinions. I hold her to her 
own admissions, nay, to her own claims and pretensions, in 
1789, in the first Congress, and to her acknowledgments and 
avowed sentiments through a long series of succeeding 
years. I hold her to the principles on which she led Con¬ 
gress to act in 1816; or, if she have changed her own opin¬ 
ions, I claim some respect for those who still retain the 
same opinions. I say she is precluded from asserting that 
doctrines, which she has herself so long and so ably sus¬ 
tained, are plain, palpable, and dangerous violations of the 
Constitution. 

Mr. President, if the friends of nullification should be 
able to propagate their opinions, and give them practical 
effect, they would, in my judgment, prove themselves the 
most skilful “ architects of ruin,” the most effectual extin¬ 
guishers of high-raised expectation, the greatest blasters of 
human hopes, that any age has produced. They would 
stand up to proclaim, in tones which would pierce the ears 
of half the human race, that the last great experiment of 
representative government had failed. They would send 
forth sounds, at the hearing of which the doctrine of the 
divine right of kings would feel, even in its grave, a return¬ 
ing sensation of vitality and resuscitation. Millions of eyes, 
of those who now feed their inherent love of liberty on the 
success of the American example, would turn away from 
beholding our dismemberment, and find no place on earth 
whereon to rest .their gratified sight. Amidst the incanta¬ 
tions and orgies of nullification, secession, disunion, and rev¬ 
olution, would be celebrated the funeral rites of constitu¬ 
tional and republican liberty. 

But, Sir, if the government do its duty, if it act with 
firmness and with moderation, these opinions cannot prevail. 
Be assured, Sir, be assured,* that, among the political senti¬ 
ments of this people, the love of union is still uppermost. 
They will stand fast by the Constitution, and by those who 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


177 


defend it. I rely on no temporary expedients, on no politi¬ 
cal combination ; but I rely on the true American feeling, 
the genuine patriotism of the people, and the imperative 
decision of the public voice. Disorder and confusion, in¬ 
deed, may arise; scenes of commotion and contest are 
threatened, and perhaps may come. With my whole heart, 
I pray for the continuance of the domestic peace and quiet 
of the country. I desire, most ardently, the restoration of 
affection and harmony to all its parts. I desire that every 
citizen of the whole country may look to this government 
with no other sentiments than those of grateful respect and 
attachment. But I cannot yield even to kind feelings the 
cause of the Constitution, the true glory of the country, and 
the great trust which we hold in our hands for succeeding 
ages. If the Constitution cannot be maintained without 
meeting these scenes of commotion and contest, however 
unwelcome, they must come. We cannot, we must not, we 
dare not, omit to do that which, in our judgment, the safety 
of the Union requires. Not regardless of consequences, we 
must yet meet consequences; seeing the hazards which sur¬ 
round the discharge of public duty, it must yet be dis¬ 
charged. For myself, Sir, I shun no responsibility justly 
devolving on me, here or elsewhere, in attempting to main¬ 
tain the cause. I am bound to it by indissoluble ties of 
affection and duty, and I shall cheerfully partake in its for¬ 
tunes and its fate. I am ready to perform my own appro¬ 
priate part, whenever and wherever the occasion may call 
on me, and to take my chance among those upon whom 
blows may fall first and fall thickest. I shall exert every 
faculty I possess in aiding to prevent the Constitution from 
being nullified, destroyed, or impaired; and even should I 
see it fall, I will still, with a voice feeble, perhaps, but ear¬ 
nest as ever issued from human lips, and with fidelity and 
zeal which nothing shall extinguish, call on the PEOPLE to 
come to its rescue. 


178 


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RECEPTION AT BUFFALO, N. Y. 

Remarks made to the Citizens of Buffalo , June , 1833. 

In the summer of 1833, Mr. Webster made a visit to the State of Ohio. 
On his way thither, while at Buffalo, New York, he was invited by the 
citizens of that place to attend a public dinner, which his engagements, 
and the necessity of an early departure, compelled him to decline. He 
accepted, however, an invitation to be present at the launching of a 
steamboat, to which the proprietors had given the name of Daniel 
Webster, and, in reply to an address from one of them, made the 
following remarks : — 

I avail myself gladly of this opportunity of malting my 
acknowledgments to the proprietors of this vessel, for the 
honor conferred upon me by allowing her to bear my name. 
Such a token of regard, had it proceeded from my imme¬ 
diate friends and neighbors, could not but have excited 
feelings of gratitude. It is more calculated to awaken these 
sentiments, when coming from gentlemen of character and 
worth with whom I have not had the pleasure of personal 
acquaintance, and whose motive, I may flatter myself, is to 
be found in an indulgent opinion towards well-intentioned 
services in a public situation. 

It gives me great pleasure also, on the occasion of so 
large an assembly of the people of Buffalo, to express to 
them my thanks for the kindness and hospitality with which 
I have been received in this young, but growing and inter¬ 
esting city. The launching of another vessel on these inland 
seas is but a fresh occasion of congratulation on the rapid 
growth, the great active prosperity, and the animating pros¬ 
pects of this city. Eight years ago, fellow-citizens, 1 enjoyed 
the pleasure of a short visit to this place. There was then 
but one steamboat on Lake Erie ; it made its passage once 
in ten or fifteen days only ; and I remember that persons 
in my own vicinity, intending to travel to the Far West by 
that conveyance, wrote to their friends here to learn the 
day of the commencement of the contemplated voyage. I 
understand that there are now eighteen steamboats plying 
on the lake, all finding full employment; and that a boat 
leaves Buffalo twice every day for Detroit and the ports in 


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• 

Ohio. The population of Buffalo, now four times as large 
as it was then, has kept pace with the augmentation of its 
commercial business. This rapid progress is an indication, 
in a single instance, of what is likely to be the rate of the 
future progress of the city. So many circumstances incline 
to favor its advancement, that it is difficult to estimate the 
rate by which it may hereafter proceed. It will probably 
not be long before the products of the fisheries of the East, 
the importations of the Atlantic frontier, the productions, 
mineral and vegetable, of all the North-western States, and 
the sugars of Louisiana, will find their way hither by inland 
water communication. Much of this, indeed, has already 
taken place, and is of daily occurrence. Many, who re¬ 
member the competition between Buffalo and Black Rock 
for the site of the city, will doubtless live to see the city 
spread over both. This singular prosperity, fellow-citizens, 
so gratifying for the present, and accompanied with such 
high hopes for the future, is due to your own industry and 
enterprise, to your favored position, and to the flourishing 
condition of the internal commerce of the country; and the 
blessings and the riches of that internal commerce, be it 
ever remembered, are the fruits of a united government, and 
one general, common commercial system. 

It is not only the trade of New York, of Ohio, of New 
England, of Indiana, or of Michigan, but it is a part of the 
great aggregate of the trade of all the States, in which you 
so largely and so successfully partake. Who does not see 
that the advantages here enjoyed spring from a general gov¬ 
ernment and a uniform code ? Who does not see, that, if 
these States had remained severed, and each had existed 
with a system of imposts and commercial regulations of its 
own, all excluding and repelling, rather than inviting, the 
intercourse of the rest, the place could hardly have hoped 
to be more than a respectable frontier post 1 Or can any 
man look to the one and to the other side of this beautiful 
lake and river, and not see, in their different conditions, the 
plain and manifest results of different political institutions 
and commercial regulations 1 

It would be pleasant, fellow-citizens, to dwell on these 


180 


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topics, so worthy at all times of regard and reflection ; and 
especially so fit to engage attention at the present moment. 
But this is not the proper .moment to pursue them ; and, ten¬ 
dering to you once more my thanks and good wishes, I take 
my leave of you by expressing my hope for the continued 
success of that great interest, so essential to your happiness — 
The commerce of the Lakes, a new-discovered source 

OF NATIONAL PROSPERITY, AND A NEW BOND OF NATIONAL 
UNION. 

An address was also made to Mr. Webster in behalf of the mechanics 
and manufacturers of Buffalo, to which he returned the following 
reply: — 

I need hardly say, Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, that 
it gives me much satisfaction to receive this mark of appro¬ 
bation of my public conduct from the manufacturers and 
mechanics of Buffalo. Those who are the most immediate¬ 
ly affected by the measures of the government are naturally 
the earliest to perceive their operation, and to foresee their 
final results. Allow me to say, Gentlemen, that the confi¬ 
dence expressed by you in my continuance in the general 
course which I have pursued must rest, and may rest safely, 
I trust, on the history of the past. Desiring always to avoid 
extremes, and to observe a prudent moderation in regard to 
the protective system, I yet hold steadiness and perseverance, 
in maintaining what has been established, to be essential to 
the public prosperity. Nothing can be worse than that laws 
concerning the daily labor and the daily bread of whole 
classes of the people should be subject to frequent and vio¬ 
lent changes. It were far better not to move at all than to 
move forward and then fall back again. 

My sentiments, Gentlemen, on the tariff question, are 
generally known. In my opinion, a just and a leading object 
in the whole system is the encouragement and protection of 
American manual labor. I confess, that every day’s expe¬ 
rience convinces me more and more of the high propriety 
of regarding this object. Our government is made for all, 
not for a few. Its object is to promote the greatest good 
of the whole ; and this ought to be kept constantly in view 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


181 


in its administration. The far greater number of those who 
maintain the government belong to what may be called the 
industrious or productive classes of the community. With 
us labor is not depressed, ignorant, and unintelligent. On 
the contrary, it is active, spirited, enterprising, seeking 
its own rewards, and laying up for its own competence 
and its own support. The motive to labor is the great 
stimulus to our whole society; and no system is wise or just 
which does not afford this stimulus, as far as it may. The 
protection of American labor against the injurious competition 
of foreign labor, so far, at least, as respects general handi¬ 
craft productions, is known historically to have been one end 
designed to be obtained by establishing the Constitution ; 
and this object, and the constitutional power to accomplish it, 
ought never in any degree to be surrendered or compromised. 

Our political institutions, Gentlemen, place power in the 
hands of all the people ; and to make the exercise of this 
power, in such hands, salutary, it is indispensable that all the 
people should enjoy, first, the means of education, and, 
second, the reasonable certainty of procuring a competent 
livelihood by industry and labor. These institutions are 
neither designed for, nor suited to, a nation of ignorant pau¬ 
pers. To disseminate knowledge, then, universally, and to 
secure to labor and industry their just rewards, is the duty 
both of the general and the State governments, each in the 
exercise of its appropriate powers. To be free, the people 
must be intelligently free; to be substantially independent, 
they must be able to secure themselves against want, by 
sobriety and industry; to be safe depositaries of political 
power, they must be able to comprehend and understand the 
general interests of the community, and must themselves 
have a stake in the welfare of that community. The inter¬ 
est of labor, therefore, has an importance, in our system, 
beyond what belongs to it as a mere question of political 
economy. It is connected with our forms of government, 
and our whole social system. The activity and prosperity 
which at present prevail among us, as every one must notice, 
are produced by the excitement of compensating prices to 
16 


182 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


labor; and it is fervently to be hoped that no unpropitious 
circumstances and no unwise policy may counteract this effi¬ 
cient cause of general competency and public happiness. 


RECEPTION AT PITTSBURG. 

Address delivered to the Citizens of Pittsburg, Pa., on the 8th of July, 1833. 

Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen : — I rise, fellow-citizens, 
with unaffected sensibility, to give you my thanks for the 
hospitable manner in which you have been kind enough to 
receive me, on this my first visit to Pittsburg, and to make 
all due acknowledgments to your worthy Mayor for the sen¬ 
timents which he has now seen fit to express. 

Although, Gentlemen, it has been my fortune to be per¬ 
sonally acquainted with very few of you, I feel, at this mo¬ 
ment, that we are not strangers. We are fellow-country¬ 
men, fellow-citizens, bound together by a thousand ties of 
interest, of sympathy, of duty ; united, I hope I may 
add, by bonds of mutual regard. We are bound together, 
for good or for evil, in our great political interests. I know 
that I am addressing Americans, every one of whom has a 
true American heart in his bosom ; and I feel that I have 
also an American heart in my bosom. I address you, then, 
Gentlemen, with the same fervent good wishes for your hap¬ 
piness, the same brotherly affection, and the same feelings 
of regard and esteem, as if, instead of being upon the bor¬ 
ders of the Ohio, I stood by the Connecticut or the Merri¬ 
mack. As citizens, countrymen, and neighbors, I give you 
my hearty good wishes, and thank you, over and over again, 
for your abundant hospitality. 

Gentlemen, the Mayor has been pleased to advert, in 
terms beyond all expectation or merit of my own, to my 
services in defence of the glorious Constitution under which 
we live, and which makes you and me all that we are, and 
all that we desire to be. He has done much more than jus¬ 
tice to my efforts ; but he has not overstated the importance 
of the occasion on which those efforts were made. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


183 


Gentlemen, it is but a few short months since dark and 
portentous clouds did hang over our heavens, and did shut 
out, as it were, the sun in his glory. A new and perilous 
crisis was upon us. Dangers, novel in their character, and 
fearful in their aspect, menaced both the peace of the coun¬ 
try and the integrity of the Constitution. For forty years 
our government had gone on, I need hardly say how pros¬ 
perously and gloriously, meeting, it is true, with occasional 
dissatisfaction, and, in one or two instances, with ill-concerted 
resistance to law. Through all these trials it had success¬ 
fully passed. But now a time had come when the authority 
of law was opposed by authority of law, when the power 
of the general government was resisted by the arms of State 
government, and when organized military force, under all 
the sanctions of State conventions and State laws, was ready 
to resist the collection of the public revenues, and hurl de¬ 
fiance at the statutes of Congress. 

Gentlemen, this was an alarming moment. In common 
with all good citizens, I felt it to be such. A general anx¬ 
iety pervaded the breasts of all who were, at home, partak¬ 
ing in the prosperity, honor, and happiness which the coun¬ 
try had enjoyed. And how was it abroad 1 Why, Gentle¬ 
men, every intelligent friend of human liberty, throughout 
the world, looked with amazement at the spectacle which we 
exhibited. In a day of unparalleled prosperity, after a half 
century’s most happy experience of the blessings of our 
Union; when we had already become the wonder of all the 
liberal part of the world, and the envy of the illiberal; 
when the Constitution had so amply falsified the predictions 
of its enemies, and more than fulfilled all the hopes of its 
friends ; in a time of peace, with an overflowing treasury; 
when both the population and the improvement of the coun¬ 
try had outrun the most sanguine anticipations; — it was at 
this moment that we showed ourselves to the whole civilized 
world as being apparently on the eve of disunion and anar¬ 
chy, at the very point of dissolving, once and forever, that 
Union which had made us so prosperous and so great. It 
was at this moment that those appeared among us who 
seemed ready to break up the national Constitution, and to 


184 


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scatter the twenty-four States into twenty-four unconnected 
communities. 

Gentlemen, the President of the United States was, as it 
seemed to me, at this eventful crisis, true to his duty. He 
comprehended and understood the case, and met it as it was 
proper to meet it. While I am as willing as others to ad¬ 
mit that the President has, on other occasions, rendered im¬ 
portant services to the country, and especially on that occa¬ 
sion which has given him so much military renown, I yet 
think the ability and decision with which he rejected the 
disorganizing doctrines of nullification create a claim, than 
which he has none higher, to the gratitude of the country 
and the respect of posterity. The appearance of the procla¬ 
mation of the 10th of December inspired me, I confess, 
with new hopes for the duration of the republic. I re¬ 
garded it as just, patriotic, able, and imperiously demanded 
by the condition of the country. I would not be under¬ 
stood to speak of particular clauses and phrases in the 
proclamation ; but I regard its great and leading doctrines 
as the true and only true doctrines of the Constitution. 
They constitute the sole ground on which dismemberment 
can be resisted. Nothing else, in my opinion, can hold us 
together. While these opinions are maintained, the Union 
will last; when they shall be generally rejected and aban¬ 
doned, that Union will be at the mercy of a temporary 
majority in any one of the States. 

I speak, Gentlemen, on this subject, without reserve. I 
have not intended heretofore, and elsewhere, and do not now 
intend here, to stint my commendation of the conduct of 
the President in regard to the proclamation and the subse¬ 
quent measures. I have differed with the President, as all 
know, who know any thing of so humble an individual as 
myself, on many questions of great general interest and im¬ 
portance. I differ with him in respect to the constitutional 
power of internal improvements ; 1 differ with him in re¬ 
spect to the rechartering of the Bank, and I dissent, espe¬ 
cially, from the grounds and reasons on which he refused 
his assent to the bill passed by Congress for that purpose. I 
differ with him; also, probably, in the degree of protection 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


185 


which ought to be afforded to our agriculture and manufac¬ 
tures, and in the manner in which it may be proper to dis¬ 
pose of the public lands. But all these differences afforded, 
in my judgment, not the slightest reason for opposing him in 
a measure of paramount importance, and at a moment of 
great public exigency. I sought to take counsel of nothing 
hut patriotism, to feel no impulse but that of duty, and to 
yield not a lame and hesitating, but a vigorous and cordial, 
support to measures which, in my conscience, I believed es¬ 
sential to the preservation of the Constitution. It is true, 
doubtless, that if myself and others had surrendered our¬ 
selves to a spirit of opposition, we might have embarrassed, 
and probably defeated, the measures of the administration. 
But in so doing, we should, in my opinion, have been false 
to our own characters, false to our duty, and false to our 
country. It gives me the highest satisfaction to know, that, 
in regard to this subject, the general voice of the country 
does not disapprove my conduct. 

I ought to add, Gentlemen, that, in whatever I may have 
done or attempted in this respect, I only share a common 
merit. A vast majority of both houses of Congress cor¬ 
dially concurred in the measures. Your own great State 
was seen in her just position on that occasion, and your own 
immediate representatives were found among the most zeal¬ 
ous and efficient friends of the Union. 

Gentlemen, I hope that the result of that experiment may 
prove salutary in its consequences to our government, and to 
the interests of the community. I hope that the signal and 
decisive manifestation of public opinion, which has, for the 
time at least, put down the despotism of nullification, may 
produce permanent good effects. 

I wish to preserve the Constitution as it is, without addi¬ 
tion, and without diminution, by one jot or tittle. For the 
same reason that I would not grasp at powers not given, I 
would not surrender nor abandon powers which are given. 
Those who have placed me in a public station placed me 
there, not to alter the Constitution, hut to administer it. 
The power of change the people have retained to them¬ 
selves. They can alter, they can modify, they can change 
16 * 


186 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


the Constitution entirely, if they see fit. They can tread it 
under foot, and make another, or make no other; but while 
it remains unaltered by the authority of the people, it is our 
power of attorney, our letter of credit, our credentials ; and 
we are to follow it, and obey its injunctions, and maintain 
its just powers, to the best of our abilities. I repeat, that, 
for one, I seek to preserve to the Constitution those precise 
powers with which the people have clothed it. While no 
encroachment is to be made on the reserved rights of the 
people or of the States, while nothing is to be usurped, it is 
equally clear that we are not at liberty to surrender, either 
in fact or form, any power or principle which the Constitu¬ 
tion does actually contain. 

Your worthy chief magistrate has been kind enough, 
Gentlemen, to express sentiments favorable to myself, as a 
friend of domestic industry. Domestic industry! Haw 
much of national power and opulence, how much of indi¬ 
vidual comfort and respectability, that phrase implies ! And 
with what force does it strike us, as we stand here, at the 
confluence of the two rivers whose united currents constitute 
the Ohio, and in the midst of one of the most flourishing 
and distinguished manufacturing cities in the Union ! Many 
thousand miles of inland navigation, running through a new 
and rapidly-improving country, stretch away below us. In¬ 
ternal communications, completed or in progress, connect 
the city with the Atlantic and the Lakes. A hundred steam 
engines are in daily operation, and nature has supplied the 
fuel which feeds their incessant flames on the spot itself, in 
exhaustless abundance. Standing here, Gentlemen, in the 
midst of such a population, and with such a scene around 
us, how great is the import of these words, “ domestic 
industry ”! 

Next to the preservation of the government itself, there 
can hardly be a more vital question, to such a community as 
this, than that which regards their own employments, and 
the preservation of that policy which the government has 
adopted and cherished for the encouragement and protection 
of those employments. This is not, in a society like this, a 
matter which affects the interest of a particular class, but 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


187 


one which affects the interest of all classes. It runs through 
the whole chain of human occupation and employment, and 
touches the means of living and the comfort of all. 

Gentlemen, those of you who may have turned your at¬ 
tention to the subject know, that, in the quarter of the coun¬ 
try with which I am more immediately connected, the peo¬ 
ple were not early or eager to urge the government to carry 
the protective policy to the height which it has reached. 
Candor obliges me to remind you, that, when the act of 1824 
was passed, neither he who now addresses you, nor those 
with whom he usually acted on such subjects, were ready or 
willing to take the step which that act proposed. They 
doubted its expediency. It passed, however, by the great and 
overwhelming influence of the central States, New York, 
Pennsylvania, and Ohio. New England acquiesced in it. 
She conformed to it, as the settled policy of the country, 
and gave to her capital and her labor a corresponding direc¬ 
tion. She has now become vitally interested in the preser¬ 
vation of the system. Her prosperity is identified, not per¬ 
haps with any particular degree of protection, but with the pres¬ 
ervation of the principle ; and she is not likely to consent to 
yield the principle, under any circumstances whatever. And 
who would dare to yield it 1 Who, standing here, and look¬ 
ing round on this community and its interests, would be bold 
enough to touch the spring which moves so much industry 
and produces so much happiness 1 Who would shut up the 
mouths of these vast coal pits ? Who would stay the car¬ 
goes of manufactured goods, now floating down a river, one 
of the noblest in the world, and stretching through territo¬ 
ries almost boundless in extent and unequalled in fertility 1 
Who would quench the fires of so many steam engines, or 
check the operations of so much well-employed labor 1 
Gentlemen, I cannot conceive how any subversion of that 
policy which has hitherto been pursued can take place, with¬ 
out great public embarrassment and great private distress. 

I have said, that I am in favor of protecting American 
manual labor; and after the best reflection I can give the 
subject, and from the lights which I can derive from the ex¬ 
perience of ourselves and others, I have come to the conclu- 


188 


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sion that such protection is just and proper; and that to 
leave American labor to sustain a competition with that of the 
over-peopled countries of Europe would lead to a state of 
tilings to which the people could never submit. This is the 
great reason why I am for maintaining what has been estab¬ 
lished. I see at home, I see here, I see wherever I go, that 
the stimulus which has excited the existing activity, and 
is producing the existing prosperity, of the country, is noth¬ 
ing else than the stimulus held out to labor by compensating 
prices. I think this effect is visible every where, from Pe¬ 
nobscot to New Orleans, and manifest in the condition and 
circumstances of the great body of the people ; for nine 
tenths of the whole people belong to the laborious, indus¬ 
trious, and productive classes; and on these classes the 
stimulus acts. We perceive that the price of labor is high, 
and we know that the means of living are low; and these 
two truths speak volumes in favor of the general prosperity 
of the country. I am aware, as has been said already, that 
this high price of labor results partly from the favorable con¬ 
dition of the country. Labor was high, comparatively speak¬ 
ing, before the act of 1824 passed ; but that fact affords no rea¬ 
son, in my judgment, for endangering its security and sacri¬ 
ficing its hopes, by overthrowing what has since been estab¬ 
lished for its protection. 

Let us look, Gentlemen, to the condition of other coun¬ 
tries, and inquire a little into the causes, which, in some of 
them, produce poverty and distress, the lamentations of 
which reach our own shores. 1 see around me many whom 
I know to be emigrants from other countries. Why are 
they here ? Why is the native of Ireland among us 1 Why 
has he abandoned scenes as dear to him as these hills and 
these rivers are to you 1 Is there any other cause than this, 
that the burden of taxation on the one hand, and the low 
reward of labor on the other, left him without the means of 
a comfortable subsistence, or the power of providing for 
those who were dependent upon him ? Was it not on this 
account that he left his own land, and sought an asylum in a 
country of free laws, of comparative exemption from taxa¬ 
tion, of boundless extent, and in which the means of living 


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189 


are cheap, and the prices of labor just and adequate 1 And 
do not these remarks apply, with more or less accuracy, to 
every other part of Europe ? Is it not true, that sobriety, 
and industry, and good character can do more for a man 
here than in any other part of the world 1 And is not this 
truth, which is so obvious that none can deny it, founded in 
this plain reason, that labor in this country earns a better re¬ 
ward than any where else, and so gives more comfort, more 
individual independence, and more elevation of character ? 
Whatever else may benefit particular portions of society, 
whatever else may assist capital, whatever else may favor 
sharpsighted commercial enterprise, professional skill, or 
extraordinary individual sagacity, or good fortune, be assured, 
Gentlemen, that nothing can advance the mass of society in 
prosperity and happiness, nothing can uphold the substantial 
interest and steadily improve the general condition and char¬ 
acter of the whole, but this one thing, compensating rewards 
to labor. The fortunate situation of our country tends 
strongly, of itself, to produce this result; the government 
has adopted the policy of cooperating with this natural ten¬ 
dency of things; it has encouraged and fostered labor and 
industry, by a system of discriminating duties ; and the re¬ 
sult of these combined causes may be seen in the present 
circumstances of the country. 

Gentlemen, there are important considerations of another 
kind connected with this subject. Our government is popu¬ 
lar ; popular in its foundation, and popular in its exercise. 
The actual character of the government can never be better 
than the general moral and intellectual character of the com¬ 
munity. It would be the wildest of human imaginations, to 
expect a poor, vicious, and ignorant people to maintain a 
good popular government. Education and knowledge, 
which, as is obvious, can be generally attained by the 
people only where there are adequate rewards to labor and 
industry, and some share in the public interest, some stake 
in the community, would seem indispensably necessary in 
those who have the power of appointing all public agents, 
passing all laws, and even of making and unmaking consti¬ 
tutions at their pleasure. Hence the truth of the trite 


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maxim, that knowledge and virtue are the only foundation 
of republics. But it is to be added, and to be always re¬ 
membered, that there never was, and never can be, an intel¬ 
ligent and virtuous people who at the same time are a poor 
and idle people, badly employed and badly paid. Who 
w r ould be safe in any community, where political power is in 
the hands of the many and property in the hands of the 
few ? Indeed, such an unnatural state of things could 
nowhere long exist. ' 

It certainly appears to me, Gentlemen, to be quite evi¬ 
dent at this time, and in the present condition of the world, 
that it is necessary to protect the industry of this country 
against the pauper labor of England and other parts of 
Europe. An American citizen, who has children to main¬ 
tain and children to educate , has an unequal chance against the 
pauper labor of England, whose children are not to be edu¬ 
cated, and are probably already on the parish, and who him¬ 
self is half fed and clothed by his own labor, and half from 
the poor rates, and very badly fed and clothed after all. As 
I have already said, the condition of our country of itself, 
without the aid of government, does much to favor Ameri¬ 
can manual labor ; and it is a question of policy and justice, 
at all times, what and how much government shall do in aid 
of natural advantages. In regard to some branches of in¬ 
dustry, the natural advantages are less considerable than in 
regard to others ; and those, therefore, more imperiously 
demand the regard of government. Such are the occupa¬ 
tions, generally speaking, of the numerous classes of citizens 
in cities and large towns ; the workers in leather, brass, tin, 
iron, &c.; and such, too, under most circumstances, are the 
employments connected with ship building. 

Our own experience has been a powerful, and ought to be 
a convincing and long-remembered, preacher on this point. 
From the close of the war of the Revolution, there came on 
a period of depression and distress, on the Atlantic coast, 
such as the people had hardly felt during the sharpest crisis 
of the war itself. Ship owners, ship builders, mechanics, 
artisans, all were destitute of employment, and some of them 
destitute of bread. British ships came freely, and British 


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191 


goods came plentifully ; while to American ships and Ameri¬ 
can products there was neither protection on the one side, 
nor the equivalent of reciprocal free trade on the other. 
The cheaper labor of England supplied the inhabitants of 
the Atlantic shores with every thing. Ready-made clothes, 
among the rest, from the crown of the head to the soles of 
the feet, were for sale in every city. All these things came 
free from any general system of imposts. Some of the 
States attempted to establish their own partial systems, but 
they failed. Voluntary association was resorted to, but that 
failed also. A memorable instance of this mode of attempt¬ 
ing protection occurred in Boston. The ship owners, seeing 
that British vessels came and went freely, while their own 
ships were rotting at the wharves, raised a committee to ad¬ 
dress the people, recommending to them, in the strongest 
manner, not to buy or use any articles imported in British 
ships. The chairman of this committee was no less distin¬ 
guished a character than the immortal John Hancock. The 
committee performed its duty powerfully and eloquently. 
It set forth strong and persuasive reasons why the people 
should not buy or use British goods imported in British ships. 
The ship owners and merchants having thus proceeded, the 
mechanics of Boston took up the subject also. They an¬ 
swered the merchants’ committee. They agreed with them 
cordially, that British goods, imported in British vessels, 
ought not to be bought or consumed ; but then they took the 
liberty of going a step farther, and of insisting that such 
goods ought not to be bought or consumed at all. (Great ap¬ 
plause.) “For,” said they, “Mr. Hancock, what difference 
does it make to us, whether hats, shoes, boots, shirts, hand¬ 
kerchiefs, tin ware, brass ware, cutlery, and every other 
article, come in British ships or come in your ships; since, 
in whatever ships they come, they take away our means of 
living 1 ” 

Gentlemen, it is an historical truth, manifested in a thou¬ 
sand ways by the public proceedings and public meetings of 
the times, that the necessity of a general and uniform im¬ 
post system, which, while it should provide revenue to pay 
the public debt, and foster the commerce of the country, 


192 


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should also encourage and sustain domestic manufactures, 
was the leading cause in producing the present national 
Constitution. No class of persons was more zealous for the 
new Constitution, than the handicraftsmen, artisans, and 
manufacturers. There were then, it is true, no large manu¬ 
facturing establishments. There were no manufactories in 
the interior, for there were no inhabitants. Here was Fort 
Pitt,—it had a place on the map, — but here were no peo¬ 
ple, or only a very few. But in the cities and towns on the 
Atlantic, the full importance, indeed the absolute necessity, 
of a new form of government and a general system of im¬ 
posts was deeply felt. 

It so happened, Gentlemen, that at that time much was 
thought to depend on Massachusetts; several States had al¬ 
ready agreed to the Constitution ; if her convention adopted 
it, it was likely to go into operation. This gave to the pro¬ 
ceedings of that convention an intense interest, and the 
country looked with trembling anxiety for the result. That 
result was for a long time doubtful. The convention Was 
known to be almost equally divided ; and down to the very 
day and hour of the final vote, no one could predict, with 
any certainty, which side would preponderate. It was under 
these circumstances, and at this crisis, that the tradesmen of 
the town of Boston, in January, 1788, assembled at the 
Green Dragon tavern, the place where the Whigs of the 
Revolution, in its early stages, had been accustomed to as¬ 
semble. They resolved, that, in their opinion, if the Con¬ 
stitution should be adopted, “trade and navigation would 
revive and increase, and employ and subsistence be afforded 
to many of their townsmen, then suffering for the want of 
the necessaries of life ; ” and that, on the other hand, should 
it be rejected, “ the small remains of commerce yet left 
would be annihilated ; the various trades and handicrafts de¬ 
pendent thereon decay ; the poor be increased, and many 
worthy and skilful mechanics compelled to seek employ and 
subsistence in strange lands.” These resolutions were car¬ 
ried to the Boston delegates in the convention, and placed 
in the hands of Samuel Adams. That great and distin¬ 
guished friend of American liberty, it was feared, might 


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193 


have doubts about the new Constitution. Naturally cautious 
and sagacious, it was apprehended he might fear the practi¬ 
cability, or the safety, of a general government. He re¬ 
ceived the resolutions from the hands of Paul Revere, a 
brass founder by occupation, a man of sense and character, 
and of high public spirit, whom the mechanics of Boston 
ought never to forget. “ How many mechanics,” said Mr. 
Adams, “ were at the Green Dragon when these resolutions 
were passed 1 ” “ More, Sir,” was the reply, “ than tile 

Green Dragon could hold.” “ And where were the rest, 
Mr. Revere 1 ” “ In the streets, Sir.” “ And how many 

were in the streets 1 ” “ More, Sir, than there are stars in 

the sky.” This is an instance only, among many, to prove, 
what is indisputably true, that the tradesmen and mechanics of 
the country did look to the new Constitution for encourage¬ 
ment and protection in their respective occupations. Under 
these circumstances, it is not to be expected that they will 
abandon the principle, in its application to their own em¬ 
ployments, any more than in its application to the commer¬ 
cial and shipping interests. They believe the power is in 
the Constitution ; and doubtless they mean, so far as depends 
on them, to keep it there. Desirous of no extravagant 
measure of protection, desirous of oppressing or burdening 
nobody, seeking nothing as a substitute for honest industry 
and hard work, as a part of the American family, having 
the same interests as other parts, they will continue their at¬ 
tachment to the Union and the Constitution, and to all the 
great and leading interests of the country. 

Gentlemen, your worthy Mayor lifts alluded to the subject 
of internal improvements. Having no doubt of the power 
of the general government over various objects compre¬ 
hended under that name, I confess I have felt great pleasure 
in forwarding them, to the extent of my ability, by means 
of reasonable aid from the government. It has seemed 
strange to me, that, in the progress of human knowledge 
and human virtue, (for I have no doubt that both are making 
progress,) the efforts of government should so long have 
been principally confined to external affairs, and to the 
enactment of the general laws, without considering how 
17 


194 


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much may be done by government, which cannot be done 
without it, for the improvement of the condition of the peo¬ 
ple. There are many objects, of great value to man, which 
cannot be attained by unconnected individuals, but must be 
attained, if at all, by association. For many of them gov¬ 
ernment seems the most natural and the most efficient asso¬ 
ciation. Voluntary association has done much, but it can¬ 
not do all. To the great honor and advantage of your own 
State, she has been forward in applying the agency of gov¬ 
ernment to great objects of internal utility. But even States 
cannot do every thing. There are some things which belong 
to all the States; and, if done at all, must be done by 
all the States. At the conclusion of the late war, it ap¬ 
peared to me that the time had come for the government to 
turn its attention inward; to survey the condition of the 
country, and particularly the vast Western country ; to take 
a comprehensive view of the whole ; and to adopt a liberal 
system of internal improvements. There are objects not 
naturally within the sphere of any one State, which yet 
seemed of great importance, as calculated to unite the dif¬ 
ferent parts of the country, to open a better and shorter 
way between the producer and consumer, to promise the 
highest advantage to government itself, in any exigency. It 
is true, Gentlemen, that the local theatre for such improve¬ 
ment is not mainly in the East. The East is old, pretty 
fully peopled, and small. The West is new, vast, and thinly 
peopled. Our rivers can be measured; yours cannot. We 
are bounded; you are boundless. The West was, therefore, 
most deeply interested in this system, though certainly not 
alone interested, even in such works as had a Western lo¬ 
cality. To clear her rivers was to open them for the com¬ 
merce of the whole country; to construct harbors, and clear 
entrances to existing harbors, whether on the Gulf of Mex¬ 
ico or on the Lakes, was for the advantage of that whole 
commerce. And if this were not so, he is but a poor public 
man whose patriotism is governed by the cardinal points; 
who is for or against a proposed measure, according to its 
indication by compass, or as it may happen to tend farther 
from, or come nearer to, his own immediate connections. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


195 


And look at the West; look at these rivers; look at the 
Lakes; look especially at Lake Erie, and see what a mod¬ 
erate expenditure has done for the safety of human life, and 
the preservation of property, in the navigation of that lake ; 
and done, let me add, in the face of a fixed and ardent 
opposition. 

I rejoice, sincerely, Gentlemen, in the general progress of 
internal improvement, and in the completion of so many 
objects near you, and connected with your prosperity. Your 
own canal and railroad unite you with the Atlantic. Near 
you is the Ohio Canal, which does so much credit to a 
younger State, and with which your city will doubtless one 
day have a direct connection. On the south and east ap¬ 
proaches the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, a great and spir¬ 
ited enterprise, which I always thought entitled to the aid 
of government, and a branch of which, it may be hoped, 
will yet reach the head of the Ohio. 

I will only add, Gentlemen, that for what I have done in 
the cause of internal improvement 1 claim no particular 
merit, having only acted with others, and discharged, con¬ 
scientiously and fairly, what I regarded as my duty to the 
whole country. 

Gentlemen, the Mayor has spoken of the importance and 
necessity of education. And can any one doubt, that to 
man, as a social and an immortal being, as interested in the 
world that is, and infinitely more concerned for that which is 
to be, education, that is to say, the culture of the mind and 
the heart, is an object of infinite importance ? So far as 
we can trace the designs of Providence, the formation of 
the mind and character, by instruction in knowledge, and in¬ 
struction in righteousness, is a main end of human being. 
Among the new impulses which society has received, none 
is more gratifying than the awakened attention to public 
education. That object begins to exhibit itself to the minds 
of men in its just magnitude, and to possess its due share of 
regard. It is but in a limited degree, and indirectly only, 
that the powers of the general government have been exer¬ 
cised in the promotion of this object. So far as these pow¬ 
ers extend, I have concurred in their exercise with great 


196 


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pleasure. The Western States, from the recency of their 
settlement, from the great proportion of their population 
which are children, and from other circumstances which must, 
in all new countries, more or less curtail individual means, 
have appeared to me to have peculiar claims to regard ; and 
in all cases where I have thought the power clear, I have most 
heartily concurred in measures designed for their benefit, in 
this respect. And amidst all our efforts for education, liter¬ 
ary, moral, or religious, be it always remembered that we 
leave opinion and conscience free. Heaven grant that it 
may be the glory of the United States to have established 
two great truths, of the highest importance to the whole 
human race ; first, that an enlightened community is capable 
of self-government; and, second, that the toleration of all 
sects does not necessarily produce indifference to religion. 

But I have already detained you too long. My friends, 
fellow-citizens, and countrymen, I take a respectful leave of 
you. The time I have passed on this side the Alleghanies 
has been a succession of happy days. I have seen much to 
instruct and much to delight me. I return you, again and 
again, my unfeigned thanks for the frankness and hospitality 
with which you have made me welcome; and wherever I 
may go, or wherever I may be, I pray you to believe I shall 
not lose the recollection of your kindness. 


THE PRESIDENTIAL PROTEST. 

Speech delivered in the Senate of the United States, on the 7th of May, 1834, on the 
President's Protest. 

On the 28th of March, 1834, the Senate adopted a resolution, declar¬ 
ing that “ in the late executive proceedings in relation to the public 
revenue, the President had assumed a power not conferred by the Con¬ 
stitution and Laws, but in derogation of both.” On the 17th of April, 
a Protest against this resolution was sent to the Senate, by the President 
of the United States, with a request that it should “ be entered at length 
on the journals of the Senate.” 

Mr. President, — I feel the magnitude of this question. 
We are coming to a vote which cannot fail to produce im- 



SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


197 


portant effects on the character of the Senate and the char¬ 
acter of the government. 

Unhappily, Sir, the Senate finds itself involved in a con¬ 
troversy with the President of the United States ; a man 
who has rendered most distinguished services to his country, 
who has hitherto possessed a degree of popular favor per¬ 
haps never exceeded, and whose honesty of motive and 
integrity of purpose are still admitted hy those who main¬ 
tain that his administration has fallen into lamentable 
errors. 

On some of the interesting questions in regard to which 
the President and Senate hold opposite opinions, the more 
popular branch of the legislature concurs with the executive. 
It is not to be concealed that the Senate is engaged against 
imposing odds. It can sustain itself only by its own pru¬ 
dence and the justice of its cause. It has no patronage by 
which to secure friends ; it can raise up no advocates through 
the dispensation of favors, for it has no favors to dispense. 
Its very constitution, as a body whose members are elected 
for a long term, is capable of being rendered obnoxious, and 
is daily made the subject of opprobrious remark. It is al¬ 
ready denounced as independent of the people, and aristo¬ 
cratic. Nor is it, like the other house, powerful in its 
numbers ; not being, like that, so large as that its members 
come constantly in direct and extensive contact with the 
whole people. Under these disadvantages, Sir, which, we 
may be assured, will be pressed and urged to the utmost 
length, there is but one course for us. The Senate must 
stand on its rendered reasons. It must put forth the grounds 
of its proceedings, and it must then rely on the intelligence 
and patriotism of the people to carry it through the contest. 

As an individual member of the Senate, it gives me great 
pain to be engaged in such a conflict with the executive 
government. The occurrences of the last session are fresh 
in the recollection of all of us; and having felt it to be my 
duty, at that time, to give my cordial support to highly im¬ 
portant measures of the administration, I ardently hoped 
that nothing might occur to place me afterwards in an atti¬ 
tude of opposition. In all resoects, and in every way, it 
17 * 


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CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


would have been far more agreeable to me to find nothing 
in the measures of the executive government which I could 
not cheerfully support. The present occasion of difference 
has not been sought or made by me. It is thrust upon me, 
in opposition to strong opinions and wishes, on my part not 
concealed. The interference with the public deposits dis¬ 
pelled all hope of continued concurrence with the adminis¬ 
tration, and was a measure so uncalled for, so unnecessary, 
and, in my judgment, so illegal and indefensible, that, with 
whatever reluctance it might be opposed by me, opposition 
was unavoidable. 

The paper before us has grown out of this interference. 
It is a paper which cannot be treated with indifference. 
The doctrines which it advances, the circumstances which 
have attended its transmission to the Senate, and the manner 
in which the Senate may now dispose of it, will form a 
memorable era in the history of the government. We are 
either to enter it on our journals, concur in its sentiments, 
and submit to its rebuke, or we must answer it, with the 
respect due to the chief magistrate, but with such animad¬ 
version on its doctrines as they deserve, and with the firm¬ 
ness imposed upon us by our public duties. 

I shall proceed, then, Sir, to consider the circumstances 
which gave rise to this Protest; to examine the principles 
which it attempts to establish; and to compare those prin¬ 
ciples with the Constitution and the laws. 

On the 28th day of March, the Senate adopted a resolu¬ 
tion declaring that, “ in the late executive proceedings in 
relation to the public revenue, the President had assumed a 
power not conferred by the Constitution and laws, but in 
derogation of both.” In that resolution I concurred. 

It is not a direct question, now again before us, whether 
the President really had assumed such illegal power; that 
point is decided, so far as the Senate ever can decide it. 
But the Protest denies that, supposing the President to have 
assumed such illegal power, the Senate could properly pass 
the resolution ; or, what is the same thing, it denies that the 
Senate could, in this way, express any opinion about it. It 
denies that the Senate has any right, by resolution, in this 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


199 


or any other case, to express disapprobation of the Presi¬ 
dent’s conduct, let that conduct be what it may; and this, 
one of the leading doctrines of the Protest, I propose to 
consider. But as I concurred in the resolution of the 28th 
of March, and did not trouble the Senate, at that time, 
with any statement of my own reasons, I will avail myself 
of this opportunity to explain, shortly, what those reasons 
were. 

In the first place, then, I have to say, that I did not vote 
for the resolution on the mere ground of the removal of Mr. 
Duane from the office of Secretary of the Treasury. Al¬ 
though I disapprove of the removal altogether, yet the 
power of removal does exist in the President, according to 
the established construction of the Constitution; and there¬ 
fore, although in a particular case it may be abused, and, in 
my opinion, was abused in this case, yet its exercise cannot 
be justly said to be an assumption or usurpation. We must 
all agree that Mr. Duane is out of office. He has, there¬ 
fore been removed by a power constitutionally competent to 
remove him, whatever may be thought of the exercise of 
that power under the circumstances of the case. 

If, then, the act of removing the Secretary be not the 
assumption of power which the resolution declares, in what 
is that assumption found ? Before giving a precise answer 
to this inquiry, allow me to recur to some of the principal 
previous events. 

At the end of the last session of Congress, the public 
moneys of the United States were still in their proper place. 
That place was fixed by the law of the land, and no power 
of change was conferred on any other human being than 
the Secretary of the Treasury. On him the power of 
change was conferred, to be exercised by himself, if emer¬ 
gency should arise, and to be exercised for reasons which he 
was bound to lay before Congress. No other officer of the 
government had the slightest pretence of authority to lay 
his hand on these moneys for the purpose of changing the 
place of their custody. All the other heads of departments 
together could not touch them. The President could not 
touch them. The power of change was a trust confided to 


200 


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the discretion of the Secretary, and to his discretion alone. 
The President had no more authority to take upon himself 
this duty, thus assigned expressly hy law to the Secretary, 
than he had to make the annual report to Congress, or the 
annual commercial statements, or to perform any other ser¬ 
vice which the law specially requires of the Secretary. He 
might just as well sign the warrants for moneys, in the 
ordinary daily disbursements of government, instead of the 
Secretary. The statute had assigned the especial duty of 
removing the deposits, if removed at all, to the Secretary of 
the Treasury, and to him alone. The consideration of the 
propriety or necessity of removal must be the consideration 
of the Secretary ; the decision to remove, his decision ; and 
the act of removal, his act. 

Now, Sir, on the 18th day of September last, a resolution 
was taken to remove these deposits from their legislative, 
that is to say, their legal custody. Whose resolution was 
this? On the 1st of October, they were removed. By 
whose power was this done ? The papers necessary to ac¬ 
complish the removal (that is, the orders and drafts) are, it 
is true, signed by the Secretary. The President’s name is 
not subscribed to them ; nor does the Secretary, in any of 
them, recite or declare that he does the act by direction of 
the President, or on the President’s responsibility. In form, 
the whole proceeding is the proceeding of the Secretary, 
and, as such, had the legal effect. The deposits were re¬ 
moved. But whose act was it, in truth and reality ? 
Whose will accomplished it ? On whose responsibility was 
it adopted 1 

These questions are all explicitly answered by the Presi¬ 
dent himself, in the paper, under his own hand, read to the 
Cabinet, on the 18th of September, and published by his 
authority. In this paper the President declares, in so many 
words, that he begs his Cabinet to consider the proposed 
measure as his own ; that its responsibility has been assumed 
by him ; and that he names the first day of October as a 
period proper for its execution. 

Now, Sir, it is precisely this which I deem an assumption 
of power not conferred by the Constitution and laws. I 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


201 


think the law did not give this authority to the President, 
nor impose on him the responsibility of its exercise. It is 
evident that, in this removal, the Secretary was in reality 
nothing but the scribe ; he was the pen in the President’s 
hand, and no more. Nothing depended on his discretion, 
his judgment, or his responsibility. The removal, indeed, 
has been admitted and defended in the Senate, as the direct 
act of the President himself. This, Sir, is what I call 
assumption of power. If the President had issued an order 
for the removal of the deposits in his own name, and under 
his own hand, it would have been an illegal order, and the 
bank would not have been at liberty to obey it. For the 
same reason, if the Secretary’s order had recited that it was 
issued by the President’s direction, and on the President’s 
authority, it would have shown on its face that it was illegal 
and invalid. No one can doubt that. The act of removal, 
to be lawful, must be the bona fide act of the Secretary ; his 
judgment, the result of his deliberations, the volition of his 
mind. All are able to see the difference between the power 
to remove the Secretary from office, and the power to con¬ 
trol him, in all or any of his duties, while in office. The 
law charges the officer, whoever he may be, with the per¬ 
formance of certain duties. The President, with the con¬ 
sent of the Senate, appoints an individual to be such officer ; 
and this individual he may remove, if he so please; but, 
until removed, he is the officer, and remains charged with 
the duties of his station, duties which nobody else can per¬ 
form, and for the neglect or violation of which he is liable 
to be impeached. 

The distinction is visible and broad between the power of 
removal and the power to control an officer not removed. 
The President, it is true, may terminate his political life; 
but he cannot control his powers and functions, and act upon 
him as a mere machine, while he is allowed to live. The 
power of control and direction, nowhere given, certainly, 
by any express provision of the Constitution or laws, is 
derived, by those who maintain it, from the right of removal; 
that is to say, it is a constructive power ; it has no express 
warrant in the Constitution. A very important power, then, 


202 


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is raised by construction in the first place; and being thus 
raised, it becomes a fountain out of which other important 
powers, raised also by construction, are to be supplied. 
There is no little danger that such a mode of reasoning 
may be carried too far. It cannot be maintained that the 
power of direct control necessarily flows from the power 
of removal. Suppose it had been decided in 1789, when 
the question was debated, that the President does not pos¬ 
sess the power of removal; will it be contended, that, in 
that case, his right of interference with the acts and duties 
of executive officers would be l';ss than it now is ? The 
reason of the thing would seer to be the other way. If the 
President may remove an incumbent when he becomes 
satisfied of his unfaithfulness and incapacity, there would 
appear to be less necessity to give him also a right of con¬ 
trol, than there would be if he could not remove him. 

We may try this question by supposing it to arise in a 
judicial proceeding. If the Secretary of the Treasury were 
impeached for removing the deposits, could he justify him¬ 
self by saying that he did it by the President’s direction ? 
If he could, then no executive officer could ever be im¬ 
peached, who obeys the President; and the whole notion 
of making such officers impeachable at all would be farcical. 
If he could not so justify himself, (and all will allow he 
could not,) the reason can only be that the act of re¬ 
moval is his own act; the power, a power confided to 
him, for the just exercise of which the law looks to his dis¬ 
cretion, his honesty, and his direct responsibility. 

Now, Sir, the President wishes the world to understand 
that he himself decided on the question of the removal of 
the deposits ; that he took the whole responsibility of the 
measure upon himself; that he wished it to be considered 
his own act; that he not only himself decided that the thing 
should be done, but regulated its details also, and named the 
day for carrying it into effect. 

I have always entertained a very erroneous view of the 
partition of powers, and of the true nature of official 
responsibility under our Constitution, if this be not a plain 
case of the assumption of power. 


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203 


The legislature had fixed a place, by law, for the keeping 
of the public money. They had, at the same time and by 
the same law, created and conferred a power of removal, to 
be exercised contingently. This power they had vested in 
the Secretary, by express words. The law did not say that 
the deposits should be made in the bank, unless the Presi¬ 
dent should order otherwise ; but it did say that they should 
be made there, unless the Secretary of the Treasury should 
order otherwise. I put it to the plain sense and common 
candor of all men, whether the discretion thus to be exer¬ 
cised over the subject was not the Secretary’s own personal 
discretion ; and whether, therefore, the interposition of the 
authority of another, acting directly and conclusively on the 
subject, deciding the whole question, even in its particulars 
and details, be not an assumption of power ? 

The Senate regarded this interposition as an encroach¬ 
ment by the executive on other branches of the government; 
as an interference with the legislative disposition of the pub¬ 
lic treasure. It was strongly and forcibly urged, yesterday, 
by the honorable member from South Carolina, that the 
true and only mode of preserving any balance of power, in 
mixed governments, is to keep an exact balance. This is 
very true, and to this end encroachment must be resisted at 
the first step. The question is, therefore, whether, upon 
the true principles of the Constitution, this exercise of 
power by the President can be justified. Whether the con¬ 
sequences be prejudicial or not, if there be an illegal exer¬ 
cise of power, it is to be resisted in the proper manner. 
Even if no harm or inconvenience result from transgressing 
the boundary, the intrusion is not to be suffered to pass 
unnoticed. Every encroachment, great or small, is impor¬ 
tant enough to awaken the attention of those who are 
intrusted with the preservation of a constitutional govern¬ 
ment. We are not to wait till great public' mischiefs come, 
till the government is overthrown, or liberty itself put into 
extreme jeopardy. We should not be worthy sons of our 
fathers were we so to regard great questions affecting the 
general freedom. Those fathers accomplished the Revolu¬ 
tion on a strict question of principle. The Parliament of 


204 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


Great Britain asserted a right to tax the Colonies in all 
cases whatsoever; and it was precisely on this question that 
they made the Revolution turn. The amount of taxation 
was trifling, but the claim itself was inconsistent with lib¬ 
erty; and that was, in their eyes, enough. It was against 
the recital of an act of Parliament, rather than against any 
suffering under its enactments, that they took up arms. 
They went to war against a preamble. They fought seven 
years against a declaration. They poured out their treas¬ 
ures and their blood like water, in a contest against an 
assertion which those less sagacious and not so well schooled 
in the principles of civil liberty would have regarded as 
barren phraseology, or mere parade of words. They saw 
in the claim of the British Parliament a seminal principle 
of mischief, the germ of unjust power; they detected it, 
dragged it forth from underneath its plausible disguises, 
struck at it; nor did it elude either their steady eye or 
their well-directed blow till they had extirpated and de¬ 
stroyed it, to the smallest fibre. On this question of princi¬ 
ple, while actual suffering was yet afar off, they raised their 
flag against a power, to which, for purposes of foreign con¬ 
quest and subjugation, Rome, in the height of her glory, is 
not to be compared; a power which has dotted over the 
surface of the whole globe with her possessions and military 
posts, whose morning drum beat, following the sun, and 
keeping company with the hours, Circles the earth with one 
continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of Eng¬ 
land. 

The necessity of holding strictly to the principle upon 
which free governments are constructed, and to those pre¬ 
cise lines which fix the partitions of power between different 
branches, is as plain, if not as cogent, as that of resisting, 
as our fathers did, the strides of. the parent country against 
the rights of the Colonies; because, whether the power 
which exceeds its just limits be foreign or domestic, whether 
it be the encroachment of all branches on the rights of the 
people, or that of one branch on the rights of others, in 
either case the balanced and well-adjusted machinery of free 
government is disturbed, and, if the derangement go on, the 
whole system must fall. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


205 


Mr. President, the executive claim of power is exactly 
this, that the President may keep the money of the public 
in whatever banks he chooses, on whatever terms he chooses, 
and apply the sums which these banks are willing to pay for 
its use to whatever purposes he chooses. These sums are 
not to come into the general treasury. They are to be ap¬ 
propriated before they get there; they are never to be 
brought under the control of Congress; they are to be paid 
to officers and agents not known to the law, not nominated 
to the Senate, and responsible to nobody but the executive 
itself. I ask gentlemen if all this be lawful. Are they 
prepared to defend it ? Will they stand up and justify it ? 
In my opinion, Sir, it is a clear and most dangerous assump¬ 
tion of power. It is the creation of office without law ; the 
appointment to office without consulting the Senate; the 
establishment of a salary without law; and the payment of 
that salary out of a fund which itself is derived from the 
use of the public treasures. This, Sir, is my other reason 
for concurring in the vote of the 28th of March; and on 
these grounds I leave the propriety of that vote, so far as I 
am concerned with it, to be judged of by the country. 

But, Sir, the President denies the power of the Senate to 
pass any such resolution, on any ground whatever. Sup¬ 
pose the declaration contained in the resolution to be true; 
suppose the President had, in fact, assumed powers not 
granted to him; does the Senate possess the right to declare 
its opinion, affirming this fact, or does it not ? I maintain 
that the Senate does possess such a power; the President 
denies it. 

Mr. President, we need not look far, nor search deep, for 
the foundation of this right in the Senate. It is close at 
hand, and clearly visible. In the first place, it is the right 
of self-defence. In the second place, it is a right founded 
on the duty of representative bodies, in a free government, 
to defend the public liberty against encroachment. We 
must presume that the Senate honestly entertained the opin¬ 
ion expressed in the resolution of the 28th of March; and, 
entertaining that opinion, its right to express it is but the 
necessary consequence of its right to defend its own consti- 
18 


206 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


tutional authority, as one branch of the government. This 
is its clear right, and this, too, is its imperative duty. 

I know not who wrote this Protest, but I confess I am 
astonished, truly astonished, as well at the want of knowl¬ 
edge which it displays of constitutional law, as at the high 
and dangerous pretensions which it puts forth. Neither 
branch of the legislature can express censure upon the 
President’s conduct! Suppose, Sir, that we should see him 
enlisting troops and raising an army, can we say nothing, 
and do nothing? Suppose he were to declare war against 
a foreign power, and put the army and the fleet in action; 
are we still to be silent ? Suppose we should see him bor¬ 
rowing money on the credit of the United States; are we 
yet to wait for impeachment? Indeed, Sir, in regard to 
this borrowing money on the credit of the United States, I 
wish to call the attention of the Senate, not only to what 
might happen, but to what has actually happened. We are 
informed that the Post Office Department, a department 
over which the President claims the same control as over 
the rest, has actually borrowed near half a million of money 
on the credit of the United States. 

Mr. President, the first power granted to Congress by 
the Constitution is the power to lay taxes; the second, the 
power to borrow money on the credit of the United States. 
Now, Sir, where does the executive find its authority, in or 
through any department, to borrow money without authority 
of Congress ? This proceeding appears to me wholly ille¬ 
gal, and reprehensible in a very high degree. It may be 
said that it is not true that this money is borrowed on the 
credit of the United States, but that it is borrowed on the 
credit of the Post Office Department. But that would be 
mere evasion. The department is but a name. It is an 
office, and nothing more. The banks have not lent this 
money to any officer. If Congress should abolish the whole 
department to-morrow, would the banks not expect the 
United States to replace this borrowed money ? The 
money, then, is borrowed on the credit of the United States, 
an act which Congress alone is competent to authorize. If 
the Post Office Department may borrow money, so may the 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


207 


War Department and the Navy Department. If half a 
million may be borrowed, ten millions may be borrowed. 
What, then, if this transaction shall be justified, is to hinder 
the executive from borrowing money to maintain fleets and 
armies, or for any other purpose, at his pleasure, without 
any authority of law ? Yet even this, according to the doc¬ 
trine of the Protest, we have no right to complain of. 

The Protest declares that the President is charged with a 
crime , and , without hearing or trial , found guilty and con¬ 
demned. This is evidently an attempt to appeal to popular 
feeling, and to represent the President as unjustly treated 
and unfairly tried. Sir, it is a false appeal. The President 
has not been tried at all; he has not been accused; he has 
not been charged with crime; he has not been condemned. 
Accusation, trial, and sentence are terms belonging to judi¬ 
cial proceedings. But the Senate has been engaged in no 
such proceeding. The resolution of the 28th of March 
was not an exercise of judicial power, either in form, in 
substance, or in intent. Every body knows that the Senate 
can exercise no judicial power until articles of impeachment 
are brought before it. It is then to proceed, by accusation 
and answer, hearing, trial, and judgment. But there has 
been no impeachment, no answer, no hearing, no judgment. 
All that the Senate did was to pass a resolution, in legisla¬ 
tive form, declaring its opinion of certain acts of the execu¬ 
tive. This resolution imputed no crime; it charged no 
corrupt motive ; it proposed no punishment. It was direct¬ 
ed, not against the President personally, but against the act; 
and that act it declared to be, in its judgment, an assump¬ 
tion of authority not warranted by the Constitution. 

It is in vain that the Protest attempts to shift the resolu¬ 
tion to the judicial character of the Senate. The case is 
too plain for such an argument to be plausible. But, in 
order to lay some foundation for it, the Protest, as I have 
already said, contends that neither the Senate nor the House 
of Representatives can express its opinions on the conduct 
of the President, except in some form connected with 
impeachment; so that if the power of impeachment did not 
exist, these two houses, though they be representative bodies, 


208 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


though one of them be filled by the immediate representa¬ 
tives of the people, though they be constituted like other 
popular and representative bodies, could not utter a syllable, 
although they saw the executive either trampling on their 
own rights and privileges, or grasping at absolute authority 
and dominion over the liberties of the country ! Sir, I 
hardly know how to speak of such claims of impunity for 
executive encroachment. I am amazed that any American 
citizen should draw up a paper containing such lofty preten¬ 
sions ; pretensions which would have been met with scorn in 
England, at any time since the Revolution of 1688. A man 
who should stand up, in either house of the British Parlia¬ 
ment, to maintain that the house could not, by vote or reso¬ 
lution, maintain its own rights and privileges, would make 
even the Tory benches hang their heads for very shame. 

There was, indeed, a time when such proceedings were 
not allowed. Some of the kings of the Stuart race would 
not tolerate them. A signal instance of royal displeasure 
with the proceedings of Parliament occurred in the latter 
part of the reign of James the First. The House of Com¬ 
mons had spoken, on some occasion, “ of its own undoubted 
rights and privileges.” The king thereupon sent them a 
letter, declaring that he would not allow that they had any 
undoubted rights; but that what they enjoyed they might still 
hold by his own royal grace and permission. Sir Edward 
Coke and Mr. Granville were not satisfied with this title to 
their privileges ; and, under their lead, the house entered on 
its journals a resolution asserting its privileges, as its own 
undoubted right , and manifesting a determination to maintain 
them as such. This, says the historian, so enraged his 
Majesty, that he sent for the journal, had it brought into the 
Council, and there, in the presence of his lords and great 
officers of state, tore out the offensive resolution with his 
own royal hand. He then dissolved Parliament, and sent 
its most refractory members to the Tower. I have no fear, 
certainly, Sir, that this English example will be followed, on 
this occasion, to its full extent; nor would I insinuate that 
any thing outrageous has been thought of, or intended, 
except outrageous pretensions; but such pretensions I must 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


209 


impute to the author of this Protest, whoever that author 
may be. 

When this and the other house shall lose the freedom of 
speech and debate; when they shall surrender the rights 
of publicly and freely canvassing all important measures of 
the executive; when they shall not be allowed to maintain 
their own authority and their own privileges by vote, decla¬ 
ration, or resolution, — they will then be no longer free rep¬ 
resentatives of a free people, but slaves themselves, and fit 
instruments to make slaves of others. 

The Protest, Mr. President, concedes what it doubtless 
regards as a liberal right of discussion to the people them¬ 
selves. But its language, even in acknowledging this right 
of the people to discuss the conduct of their servants, is 
qualified and peculiar. The free people of the United 
States, it declares, have an undoubted right to discuss the 
official conduct of the President in such language and form 
as they may think proper, “ subject only to the restraints of 
truth and justice.” But, then, who is to be judge of this 
truth and justice 1 Are the people to judge for themselves, 
or are others to judge for them ? The Protest is here 
speaking of political rights, and not moral rights; and if 
restraints are imposed on political rights, it must follow, of 
course, that others are to decide whenever the case arises 
whether these restraints have been violated. It is strange 
that the writer of the Protest did not perceive that, by 
using this language, he was pushing the President into a 
direct avowal of the doctrines of 1798. The text of the 
Protest and the text of the obnoxious act * of that year are 
nearly identical. 

In asserting power for an American President, I prefer 
that he should attempt to maintain his assertions on Ameri¬ 
can reasons. I know not, Sir, who the writer was, (I wish 
I did;) but whoever he was, it is manifest that he argues 
this part of his case, throughout, on the principles of the 
constitution of England. It is true, that, in England, the 
king is regarded as the original fountain of all honor and 

* Commonly called the Sedition Act, approved 14th July, 1798. 

18 * 


210 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


all office; and that anciently, indeed, he possessed all polit 
ical power of every kind. It is true that this mass of 
authority, in the progress of that government, has been 
diminished, restrained, and controlled, by charters, by immu¬ 
nities, by grants, and by various modifications, which the 
friends of liberty have, at different periods, been able to 
obtain or to impose. All liberty, as we know, all popular 
privileges, as indeed the word itself imports, were formerly 
considered as favors and concessions from the monarch. 
But whenever and wherever civil freedom could get a foot¬ 
hold, and could maintain itself, these favors were turned into 
rights. Before and during the reigns of the princes of the 
Stuart family, they were acknowledged only as favors or 
privileges graciously allowed, although even then, whenever 
opportunity offered, as in the instance to which I alluded 
just now, they were contended for as rights ; and by the 
Revolution of 1688 they were acknowledged as the rights 
of Englishmen, by the prince who then ascended the throne, 
and as the condition on which he was allowed to sit upon it. 
But with us there never was a time when we acknowledged 
original, unrestrained, sovereign power over us. Our con¬ 
stitutions are not made to limit and restrain preexisting 
authority. They are the instruments by which the people 
confer power on their own servants. If I may use a legal 
phrase, the people are grantors, not grantees. They give 
to the government, and to each branch of it, all the power 
it possesses, or can possess; and what is not given they 
retain. In England, before her revolution, and in the rest 
of Europe since, if we would know the extent of liberty or 
popular right, we must go to grants, to charters, to allow¬ 
ances, and indulgences. But with us, we go to grants and 
to constitutions to learn the extent of the powers of govern¬ 
ment. No political power is more original than the Consti¬ 
tution ; none is possessed which is not there granted ; and 
the grant, and the limitations in the grant, are in the same 
instrument. 

The powers, therefore, belonging to any branch of our 
government, are to be construed and settled, not by remote 
analogies drawn from other governments, but from the 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


211 


words of the grant itself, in their plain sense and necessary- 
import, and according to an interpretation consistent with 
our own history and the spirit of our own institutions. I will 
never agree that a President of the United States holds the 
whole undivided power of office in his own hands, upon 
the theory that he is responsible for the entire action of the 
whole body of those engaged in carrying on the government 
and executing the laws. Such a responsibility is purely 
ideal, delusive, and vain. There is, there can be, no sub¬ 
stantial responsibility, any further than every individual is 
answerable, not merely in his reputation, not merely in the 
opinion of mankind, but to the law , for tbe faithful discharge 
of his own appropriate duties. Again and again we hear it 
said that the President is responsible to the American peo¬ 
ple ! that he is responsible to the bar of public opinion ! 
For whatever he does, he assumes accountability to the 
American people ! For whatever he omits, he expects to 
be brought to the high bar of public opinion! And this is 
thought enough for a limited, restrained, republican govern¬ 
ment ! an undefined, undefinable, ideal responsibility to the 
public judgment! 

Sir, if all this mean any thing, if it be not empty sound, 
it means no less than that the President may do any thing 
and every thing which he may expect to be tolerated in 
doing. He may go just so far as he thinks it safe to go; 
and Cromwell and Bonaparte went no farther. I ask again, 
Sir, Is this legal responsibility ? Is this the true nature of 
a government with written laws and limited powers ? And 
allow me, Sir, to ask, too, if an executive magistrate, while 
professing to act under the Constitution, is restrained only 
by this responsibility to public opinion, what prevents him, 
on the same responsibility, from proposing a change in that 
Constitution ? Why may he not say, “ I am about to intro¬ 
duce new forms, new principles, and a new spirit; I am 
about to try a political experiment on a great scale; and 
when I get through with it, I shall be responsible to the 
American people, I shall be answerable to the bar of public 
opinion ” 1 

Connected, Sir, with the idea of this airy and unreal 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


responsibility to the public is another sentiment, which of 
late we hear frequently expressed; and that is, that the 
President is the direct representative of the American people. 
This is declared in the Protest in so many words. “ The 
President,” it says, “ is the direct representative of the Amer¬ 
ican people.' 1 ' Now, Sir, this is not the language of the 
Constitution. The Constitution nowhere calls him the rep¬ 
resentative of the American people; still less, their direct 
representative. It could not do so with the least propri¬ 
ety. He is not chosen directly by the people, but by a 
body of electors, some of whom are chosen by the people, 
and some of whom are appointed by the State legisla¬ 
tures. Where, then, is the authority for saying that the 
President is the direct representative of the people ? The 
Constitution calls the members of the other house Repre¬ 
sentatives, and declares that they shall be chosen by the peo¬ 
ple ; and there are no other direct or immediate representa¬ 
tives of the people in this government. The Constitution 
denominates the President simply the President of the 
United States; it points out the complex mode of electing 
him, defines his powers and duties, and imposes limits and 
restraints on his authority. Witli these powers and duties, 
and under these restraints, he becomes, when chosen, Presi¬ 
dent of the United States. That is his character, and the 
denomination of his otfice. How is it, then, that, on this 
official character, thus cautiously created, limited, and de¬ 
fined, he is to ingraft another and a very imposing character, 
namely, the character of the direct representative of the 
American people ? I hold this, Sir, to be mere assumption, 
and dangerous assumption. If he is the representative of 
all the American people, he is the only representative which 
they all have. Nobody else presumes to represent all the 
people. And if he may be allowed to consider himself as 
the SOLE REPRESENTATIVE OF ALL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 
and is to act under no other responsibility than such as I 
have already described, then 1 say, Sir, that the government 
(I will not say the people) has already a master. I deny 
the sentiment, therefore, and I protest against the language; 
neither the sentiment nor the language is to be found in the 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


213 


Constitution of the country; and whoever is not satisfied to 
describe the powers of the President in the language of the 
Constitution may be justly suspected of being as little satis¬ 
fied with the powers themselves. The President is Presi¬ 
dent. His office and his name of office are known, and 
both are fixed and described by law. Being commander of 
the army and navy, holding the power of nominating to 
« office and removing from office, and being by these powers 
the fountain of all patronage and all favor, what does he 
not become if he be allowed to superadd to all this the 
character of single representative of the American people ? 
Sir, he becomes what America has not been accustomed to 
see, what this Constitution has never created, and what I 
cannot contemplate but with profound alarm. He who may 
call himself the single representative of a nation, may speak 
in the name of the nation, may undertake to wield the 
power of the nation; and who shall gainsay him in whatso¬ 
ever he chooses to pronounce to be the nation’s will ? 

I will now, Sir, ask leave to recapitulate the general doc¬ 
trines of this Protest, and to present them together. They 
are, — 

That neither branch of the legislature can take up, or con¬ 
sider, for the purpose of censure, any official act of the 
President, without some view to legislation or impeachment; 

That not only the passage, but the discussion, of the res¬ 
olution of the Senate of the 2Sth of March, was unauthor¬ 
ized by the Constitution, and repugnant to its provisions; 

That the custody of the public treasury always must be 
intrusted to the executive; that Congress cannot take it out 
of his hands, nor place it any where except under such super¬ 
intendents and keepers as are appointed by him, responsible 
to him, and removable at his will; 

That the whole executive power is in the President, and 
that therefore the duty of defending the integrity of the 
Constitution results to him from, the very nature of his office; 
and that the founders of our republic have attested their 
sense of the importance of this duty, and, by expressing it 
in his official oath, have given to it peculiar solemnity and 
force; 


214 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


That, as he is to take care that the laws be faithfully exe¬ 
cuted, he is thereby made responsible for the entire action 
of the executive department, with the power of appointing, 
overseeing, and controlling those who execute the laws ; 

That the power of removal from office, like that of 
appointment, is an original executive power, and is left in 
his hands unchecked by the Constitution, except in the case 
of judges; that, being responsible for the exercise of the 
whole executive power, he has a right to employ agents of 
his own choice to assist him in the performance of his duties, 
and to discharge them when he is no longer willing to be 
responsible for their acts ; 

That the Secretaries are his Secretaries, and all persons 
appointed to offices created by law, except the judges, his 
agents, responsible to him, and removable at his pleasure; 

And, finally, that he is the direct representative of the 
American, people . 

These, Sir, are some of the leading propositions con¬ 
tained in the Protest; and if they be true, then the govern¬ 
ment under which we live is an elective monarchy. It is 
not yet absolute; there are yet some checks and limitations 
in the Constitution and laws ; but, in its essential and pre¬ 
vailing character, it is an elective monarchy. 

Mr. President, I have spoken freely of this Protest, and 
of the doctrines which it advances; but 1 have spoken delib¬ 
erately. On these high questions of constitutional law, 
respect for my own character, as well as a solemn and pro¬ 
found sense of duty, restrains me from giving utterance to 
a single sentiment which does not flow from entire convic¬ 
tion. 1 feel that I am not wrong. I feel that an inborn 
and inbred love of constitutional liberty, and some study of 
our political institutions, have not on this occasion misled 
me. But I have desired to say nothing that should give 
pain to the chief magistrate personally. I have not sought 
to fix arrows in his breast; but I believe him mistaken, alto¬ 
gether mistaken, in the sentiments which he has expressed; 
and 1 must concur with others in placing on the records of 
the Senate my disapprobation of those sentiments. On a 
vote which is to remain so long as any proceeding of the 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


215 


Senate shall last, and on a question which can never cease 
to be important while the Constitution of the country en¬ 
dures, I have desired to make public my reasons. They 
will now be known, and I submit them to the judgment 
of the present and of after times. Sir, the occasion is 
full of interest. It cannot pass off without leaving strong 
impressions on the character of public men. A collision has 
taken place which I could have most anxiously wished to 
avoid; but it was not to be shunned. We have not sought 
this controversy; it has met us, and been forced upon us. 
In my judgment, the law has been disregarded, and the 
Constitution transgressed; the fortress of liberty has been 
assaulted, and circumstances have placed the Senate in the 
breach; and, although we may perish in it, I know we shall 
not fly from it. But I am fearless of consequences. We 
shall hold on, Sir, and hold out, till the people themselves 
come to its defence. We shall raise the alarm, and main¬ 
tain the post, till they whose right it is shall decide whether 
the Senate be a faction, wantonly resisting lawful power, 
or whether it be opposing, with firmness and patriotism, 
violations of liberty and inroads upon the Constitution. 


THE APPOINTING AND REMOVING POWER. 

Speech on the Appointing and Removing Power, delivered in the Senate of the United 
States, on the 16tA of February, 1835, on the Passage of the Bill entitled “ An Act to 
repeal the First and Second Sections of the Act to limit the Term of Service of certain 
Officers therein named.'” 

Mr. President, — The professed object of this bill is 
the reduction of executive influence and patronage. I con¬ 
cur in the propriety of that object. Having no wish to 
diminish or to control, in the slightest degree, the constitu¬ 
tional and legal authority of the presidential office, I yet 
think that the indirect and rapidly-increasing influence which 
it possesses, and which arises from the power of bestowing 
office and of taking it away again at pleasure, and from the 
manner in which that power seems now to be systematically 
exercised, is productive of serious evils. 



216 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


The extent of the patronage springing from this power 
of appointment and removal is so great, that it brings a 
dangerous mass of private and personal interest into opera¬ 
tion in all great public elections and public questions. This 
is a mischief which has reached, already, an alarming 
height. The principle of republican governments, we are 
taught, is public virtue; and whatever tends either to corrupt 
this principle, to debase it, or to weaken its force, tends, in 
the same degree, to the final overthrow of such governments. 
Our representative systems suppose, that, in exercising the 
high right of suffrage, the greatest of all political rights, and 
in forming opinions on great public measures, men will act 
conscientiously, under the influence of public principle and 
patriotic duty; and that, in supporting or opposing men or 
measures, there will be a general prevalence of honest, 
intelligent judgment and manly independence. These pre¬ 
sumptions lie at the foundation of all hope of maintaining 
governments entirely popular. Whenever personal, indi¬ 
vidual, or selfish motives influence the conduct of individuals 
on public questions, they affect the safety of the whole sys¬ 
tem. When these motives run deep and wide, and come 
in serious conflict with higher, purer, and more patriotic 
purposes, they greatly endanger that system; and all will 
admit that, if they become general and overwhelming, so 
that all public principle is lost sight of, and every election 
becomes a mere scramble for office, the system inevitably 
must fall. Every wise man, in and out of government, will 
endeavor, therefore, to promote the ascendency of public 
virtue and public principle, and to restrain as far as practi¬ 
cable, in the actual operation of our institutions, the influence 
of selfish and private interests. 

I concur with those who think, that, looking to the pres¬ 
ent, and looking also to the future, and regarding all the 
probabilities that await us in reference to the character and 
qualities of those who may fill the executive chair, it is im¬ 
portant to the stability of government and the welfare of 
the people that there should be a check to the progress of 
official influence and patronage. The unlimited power to 
grant office, and to take it away, gives a command over the 


SELECTIONS FROxM WEBSTER. 


217 


hopes and fears of a vast multitude, of men. It is gener¬ 
ally true, that he who controls another man’s means of 
living controls his will. Where there are favors to be 
granted, there are usually enough to solicit for them ; and 
when favors once granted may be withdrawn at pleasure, 
there is ordinarily little security for personal independence 
of character. The power of giving office thus affects the 
fears of all who are in, and the hopes of all who are out. 
Those who are out endeavor to distinguish themselves by 
active political friendship, by warm personal devotion, by 
clamorous support of men in whose hands is the power of 
reward ; while those who are in ordinarily take care that 
others shall not surpass them in such qualities or 
such conduct as are most likely to secure favor. They 
resolve not to be outdone in any of the works of partisan¬ 
ship. The consequence of all this is obvious. A compe¬ 
tition. ensues, not of patriotic labors ; not of rough and 
severe toils for the public good ; not of manliness, inde¬ 
pendence, and public spirit; but of complaisance, of indis¬ 
criminate support of executive measures, of pliant subser¬ 
viency and gross adulation. All throng and rush together 
to the altar of man worship ; and there they offer sacrifices, 
and pour out libations, till the thick fumes of their incense 
turn their own heads, and turn, also, the head of him who 
is the object of their idolatry. 

The existence of parties in popular governments is not to 
be avoided ; and if they are formed on constitutional ques¬ 
tions, or in regard to great measures of public policy, and 
do not run to excessive length, it may be admitted that, on 
the whole, they do no great harm. But the patronage of 
office, the power of bestowing place and emoluments, creates 
parties, not upon any principle or any measure, but upon 
the single ground of personal interest. Under the direct 
influence of this motive, they form round a leader, and they 
go for “ the spoils of victory.” And if the party chieftain 
becomes the national chieftain, he is still but too apt to con¬ 
sider all who have opposed him as enemies to be punished, 
and all who have supported him as friends to be rewarded. 
Blind devotion to party, and to the head of a party, thus takes 
19 


218 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


place of the sentiment of generous patriotism and a high 
and exalted sense of public duty. 

Let it not be said, Sir, that the danger from executive 
patronage cannot be great, since the persons who hold of¬ 
fice, or can hold office, constitute so small a portion of 
the whole people. 

In the first place, it is to be remembered that patronage 
acts, not only on those who actually possess office, but on 
those also who expect it, or hope for it; and in the next 
place, office holders, by their very situation, their public 
station, their connection with the business of individuals, 
their activity, their ability to help or to hurt according to 
their pleasure, their acquaintance with public affairs, and 
their zeal and devotion, exercise a degree of influence out 
of all proportion to their numbers. 

Sir, we cannot disregard our own experience. We can¬ 
not shut our eyes to what is around us and upon us. No 
candid man can deny that a great, a very great changfe has 
taken place, within a few years, in the practice of the ex¬ 
ecutive government, which has produced a corresponding 
change in our political condition. No one can deny that 
office, of every kind, is now sought with extraordinary 
avidity, and that the condition, well understood to be at¬ 
tached to every officer, high or low, is indiscriminate sup¬ 
port of executive measures and implicit obedience to execu¬ 
tive will. For these reasons, Sir, I am for arresting the 
further progress of this executive patronage, if we can arrest 
it. I am lor staying the further contagion of this plague. 

Sir, the theory of our institutions is plain ; it is, that 
government is an agency created for the good of the people, 
and that every person in office is the agent and servant of 
the people. Offices are created, not for the benefit of those 
who are to fill them, but for the public convenience ; and 
they ought to be no more in number, nor should higher 
salaries be attached to them, than the public service requires. 
This is the theory. But the difficulty in practice is, to pre¬ 
vent a direct reversal of all this ; to prevent public offices 
from being considered as intended for the use and emolu¬ 
ment of those who can obtain them. There is a headlong 

O 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


219 


tendency to this, and it is necessary to restrain it by wise 
and effective legislation. There is still another, and perhaps 
a greatly more mischievous result, of extensive patronage 
in the hands of a single magistrate, to which I have already 
incidentally alluded ; and that is, that men in office have 
begun to think themselves mere agents and servants of the 
appointing power, and not agents of the government or the 
country. It is, in an especial manner, important, if it be 
practicable, to apply some corrective to, this kind of feeling 
and opinion. It is necessary to bring back public officers 
to the conviction, that they belong to the country, and not 
to any administration, nor to any one man. The army is 
the army of the country ; the navy is the navy of the country ; 
neither of them is either the mere instrument of the adminis¬ 
tration for the time being, nor of him who is at the head of it. 
The post office, the land office, the custom bouse, are, in like 
manner, institutions of the country, established for the good 
of the people ; and it may well alarm the lovers of free 
institutions, when all the offices in these several departments 
are spoken of, in high places, as being but “ spoils of 
victory,” to be enjoyed by those who are successful in a 
contest, in which they profess this grasping of the spoils to 
have been the object of their efforts. 

This part of the bill, therefore, Sir, is a subject for fair 
comparison. We have gained something, doubtless, by lim¬ 
iting the commissions of these officers to four years. 

For one, I think the balance of advantage is decidedly in 
favor of the present bill. I think it will make men more 
dependent on their own good conduct, and less dependent 
on the will of others. I believe it will cause them to regard 
their country more, their own duty more, and the favor of 
individuals less. I think it will contribute to official respect¬ 
ability, to freedom of opinion, to independence of character ; 
and I think it will tend, in no small degree, to prevent the 
mixture of selfish and personal motives with the exercise of 
high political duties. It will promote true and genuine 
republicanism, by causing the opinion of the people respect- 
in 2; the measures of government, and the men in govern¬ 
ment, to be formed and expressed without fear or favor, and 


220 


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with a more entire regard to their true and real merits or 
demerits. It will be, so far as its effects reach, an auxiliary 
to patriotism and public virtue, in their warfare against self¬ 
ishness and cupidity. 

The second check on executive patronage contained in 
this bill is of still greater importance than the first. This 
provision is, that, whenever the President removes any of 
these officers from office, he shall state to the Senate the 
reasons for such removal. This part of the bill has been 
opposed, both on constitutional grounds and on grounds of 
expediency. 

The bill, it is to be observed, expressly recognizes and 
admits the actual existence of the power of removal. I 
do not mean to deny, and the bill does not deny, that, at 
the present moment, the President may remove these officers 
at will, because the early decision adopted that construction, 
and the laws have since uniformly sanctioned it. The law 
of 1820, intended to be repealed by this bill, expressly af¬ 
firms the power. I consider it, therefore, a settled point; 
settled by construction, settled by precedent, settled by the 
practice of the government, and settled by statute. At the 
same time, after considering the question again and again 
within the last six years, I am very willing to say, that, in 
my deliberate judgment, the original decision was wrong. 
I cannot but think that those who denied the power in 1789 
had the best of the argument; and yet I will not say that I 
know myself so thoroughly as to affirm, that this opinion 
may not have been produced, in some measure, by that abuse 
of the power which has been passing before our eyes for 
several years. It is possible that this experience of the 
evil may have affected my view of the constitutional argu¬ 
ment. It appears to me, however, after thorough and re¬ 
peated and conscientious examination, that an erroneous in¬ 
terpretation was given to the Constitution, in this respect, by 
the decision of the first Congress. 

Mr. President, without pursuing the discussion further, I 
will detain the Senate only while I recapitulate the opinions 
which I have expressed; because I am far less desirous of 
influencing the judgment of others, than of making clear 
the grounds of rcw own judgment. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


221 


I think, then, Sir, that the power of appointment natu¬ 
rally and necessarily includes the power of removal, where 
no limitation is expressed, nor any tenure but that at will 
declared. The power of appointment being conferred on 
the President and Senate, I think the power of removal 
went along with it, and should have been regarded as a part 
of it, and exercised by the same hands. I think, conse¬ 
quently, that the decision of 1789, which implied a power 
of removal separate from the appointing power, was er¬ 
roneous. 

But I think the decision of 1789 has been established by 
practice, and recognized by subsequent laws, as the settled 
construction of the Constitution, and that it is our duty to 
act upon the case, accordingly, for the present; without 
admitting that Congress may not, hereafter, if necessity 
shall require it, reverse the decision of 1789. I think the 
legislature possesses the power of regulating the condition, 
duration, qualification, and tenure of office, in all cases 
where the Constitution has made no express provision on 
the subject. 

I am, therefore, of opinion, that it is competent for Con¬ 
gress to declare by law, as one qualification of the tenure 
of office, that the incumbent shall remain in place till the 
President shall remove him, for reasons to be stated to the 
Senate. And I am of opinion that this qualification, mild 
and gentle as it is, will have some effect in arresting the evils 
which beset the progress of the government, and seriously 
threaten its future prosperity. 


RECEPTION AT BANGOR. 

Remarks made to the Citizens of Bangor, Maine, on the 25 th of August, 1835. Delivered 
from the Balcony of the Hotel. 

Fellow-Citizens, — Having occasion to come into the 
State on professional business, I have gladly availed myself 
of the opportunity to visit this city, the growing magnitude 
and importance of which have recently attracted such gen¬ 
eral notice. I am happy to say, that I see around me 
19 * 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


ample proofs of the correctness of the favorable representa¬ 
tions which have gone abroad. Your city, Gentlemen, has 
certainly experienced an extraordinary growth; and it is a 
growth, I think, which there is reason to hope is not unnat¬ 
ural, or greatly disproportionate to the eminent advantages 
of the place. It so happened, that, at an early period of 
my life, I came to this spot, attracted by that favorable posi¬ 
tion, which the slightest glance on the map must satisfy 
every one that it occupies. It is near the head of tide¬ 
water, on a river which brings to it from the sea a volume 
of water equal to the demands of the largest vessels of war, 
and whose branches, uniting here, from great distances 
above, traverse in their course extensive tracts now covered 
with valuable productions of the forest, and capable, most 
of them, of profitable agricultural cultivation. But at the 
period 1 speak of, the time had not come for the proper 
development and display of these advantages. Neither the 
place itself, nor the country, was then ready. A long course 
of commercial restrictions and embargo, and a foreign war, 
were yet to be gone through, before the local advantages of 
such a spot could be exhibited or enjoyed, or the country 
would be in a condition to create an active demand for its 
main products. 

I believe some twelve or twenty houses were all that Ban¬ 
gor could enumerate, when I was in it before ; and I remem¬ 
ber to have crossed the stream which now divides your fair 
city on some floating logs, for the purpose of visiting a 
former friend and neighbor, who had just then settled here; 
a gentleman always most respectable, and now venerable for 
his age and his character, whom I have great pleasure in 
seeing among you to-day, in the enjoyment of health and 
happiness. 

It is quite obvious, Gentlemen, that while the local advan¬ 
tages of a noble river, and of a large surrounding country, 
may be justly considered as the original spring of the pres¬ 
ent prosperity of the city, the current of this prosperity lias, 
nevertheless, been put in motion, enlarged, and impelled, b*' 
the general progress of improvement, and growth of wealth 
throughout the whole country. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


223 


At the period of my former visit, there was, of course, 
neither railroad, nor steamboat, nor canal, to favor commu¬ 
nication ; nor do I recollect that any public or stage coach 
came within fifty miles of the town. 

Internal improvement (as it is comprehensively called in 
this country) has been the great agent of this favorable 
change ; and so blended are our interests, that the general 
activity which exists elsewhere, supported and stimulated by 
internal improvement, pervades and benefits even those por¬ 
tions of the country which are locally remote from the 
immediate scene of the main operations of this improvement. 
Whatever promotes communication, whatsoever extends gen¬ 
eral business,, whatsoever encourages enterprise, or whatso¬ 
ever advances the general wealth and prosperity of other 
States, must have a plain, direct, and powerful bearing on 
your own prosperity. In truth, there is no town in the 
Union, whose hopes can be more directly staked on the gen¬ 
eral prosperity of the country, than this rising city. If any 
thing should interrupt the general operations of business, if 
commercial embarrassment, foreign war, pecuniary derange¬ 
ment, domestic dissension, or any other causes, were to 
arrest the general progress of the public welfare, air must 
see with what a blasting and withering effect such a course 
must operate on Bangor. 

Gentlemen, I have often taken occasion to say, what cir¬ 
cumstances may render it proper now to repeat, that, at the 
close of the last war, a new era, in my judgment, had 
opened in the United States. A new career then lay before 
us. At peace ourselves with the nations of Europe, and 
those nations, too, at peace with one another, and the lead¬ 
ing civilized states of the world no longer allowing that car¬ 
rying trade which had been the rich harvest of our neutrality 
in the midst of former wars, but all now coming forward to 
exercise their own rights, in sharing the commerce and nav¬ 
igation of the world, it seemed to me to be very plain, that, 
while our commerce was still to be fostered with the most 
zealous care, yet quite a new view of things was presented 
to us in regard to our internal pursuits and concerns. The 
works of peace, as it seemed to me, had become our duties. 


224 


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A hostile exterior, a front of brass, and an arm of iron, all 
necessary in the just defence of the country against foreign 
aggression, naturally gave place, in a change of circum¬ 
stances, to the attitude, the objects, and the pursuits of peace. 
Our true interest, as I thought, was to explore our own 
resources, to call forth and encourage labor and enterprise 
upon internal objects, to multiply the sources of employment 
and comfort at home, and to unite the country by ties of 
intercourse, commerce, benefits, and prosperity, in all parts, 
as well as by the ties of political association. And it ap¬ 
peared to me that government itself clearly possessed the 
power, and was as clearly charged with the duty of helping 
on, in various ways, this great business of internal improve¬ 
ment. I have, therefore, steadily supported all measures 
directed to that end, which appeared to me to be within the 
just power of the government, and to be practicable within 
the limits of reasonable expenditure. And if any one would 
judge how far the fostering of this spirit has been beneficial 
to the country, let him compare its state at this moment 
with its condition at the commencement of the late war; 
and let him then say how much of all that has been added 
to national wealth and national strength, and to individual 
prosperity and happiness, has been the fair result of internal 
improvement. 

Gentlemen, it has been your pleasure to give utterance to 
sentiments expressing approbation of my humble efforts, on 
several occasions, in defence and maintenance of the Con¬ 
stitution of the country. I have nothing to say of those 
efforts, except that they have been honestly intended. The 
country sees no reason, I trust, to suppose that on those 
occasions I have taken counsel of any thing but a deep 
sense of duty. 1 have, on some occasions, felt myself called 
on to maintain my opinions, in opposition to power, to 
place, to official influence, and to overwhelming personal 
popularity. I have thought it my imperative duty to put 
forth my most earnest efforts to maintain what I considered to 
be the just powers of the government, when it appeared to 
me that those to whom its administration was intrusted were 
countenancing doctrines inevitably tending to its destruction. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


225 


And I have, with far more pleasure, on other occasions, sup¬ 
ported the constituted authorities, when I have deemed their 
measures to be called for by a regard to its preservation. 

The Constitution of the United States, Gentlemen, has 
appeared to me to have been formed and adopted for two 
grand objects. The first is the Union of the States. It is 
the bond of that union, and it states and defines its terms. 
Who can speak in terms Warm enough and high enough of 
its importance in this respect, or the admirable wisdom with 
which it is formed ? Or who, when he shall have stated the 
benefits and blessings which it has conferred upon the States 
most strongly, will venture to say that he has done it jus¬ 
tice ? For one, I am not sanguine enough to believe that, 
if this bond of union were dissolved, any other tie uniting 
all the States would take its place for generations to come. 
It requires no common skill, it is no piece of ordinary polit¬ 
ical journey-work, to form a system which shall hold 
together four and twenty separate State sovereignties, the 
line of whose united territories runs down all the parallels 
of latitude from New Brunswick to the Gulf of Mexico, 
and whose connected breadth stretches from the sea far 
beyond the Mississippi. Nor are all times or all occasions 
suited to such great operations. It is only under the most 
favorable circumstances, and only when great men are called 
on to meet great exigencies, only once in centuries, that 
such fortunate political results are to be attained. Who¬ 
ever, therefore, undervalues this National Union, whoever 
depreciates it, whoever accustoms himself to consider how 
the people might get on without it, appears to me to encour¬ 
age sentiments subversive of the foundations of our pros¬ 
perity. 

it is .true that these twenty-four States are, more or less, 
different in climate, productions, and local pursuits. There 
are planting States, grain-growing States, manufacturing 
States, and commercial States. But those several interests, 
if not identical, are not therefore inconsistent and hostile. 
Far from it. They unite, on the contrary, to promote an 
aggregate result of unrivalled national happiness. It is not 
precisely a case in which 


22G 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


All nature’s difference keeps all nature’s peace ; ” 

but it is a case in which variety of climate and condition, 
and diversities of pursuits and productions, all unite to 
exhibit one harmonious, grand, and magnificent whole, to 
which the world may be proudly challenged to show an 
equal. In my opinion, no man, in any corner of any one 
of these States, can stand up and declare, that he is less 
prosperous or less happy than if the general government 
had never existed. Entertaining these sentiments, and feel¬ 
ing their force most deeply, I regard it as the bounden duty 
of every good citizen, in public and in private life, to follow 
the admonition of Washington, and to cherish that Union 
which makes us one people. I most earnestly deprecate, 
therefore, whatever occurs, in the government or out of it, 
calculated to endanger the Union or disturb the basis on 
which it rests. 

Another object of the Constitution I take to be such as is 
common to all written constitutions of free governments; 
that is, to fix limits to delegated authority, or, in other 
words, to impose constitutional restraints on political power. 
Some, who esteem themselves republicans, seem to think no 
other security for public liberty necessary than a provision 
for a popular choice of rulers. If political power be dele¬ 
gated power, they entertain little fear of its being abused. 
The people’s servants and favorites, they think, may be 
safely trusted. Our fathers, certainly, were not of this 
school. They sought to make assurance doubly sure, by 
providing, in the first place, for the election of political 
agents by the people themselves, at short intervals, and, in 
the next place, by prescribing constitutional restraints on all 
branches of this delegated authority. It is not among the 
circumstances of the times most ominous for good, that a 
diminished estimate appears to be placed on those constitu¬ 
tional securities. A disposition is but too prevalent to sub¬ 
stitute personal confidence for legal restraint; to put trust 
in men rather than in principles; and this disposition being- 
strongest, as it most obviously is, whenever party spirit pre¬ 
vails to the greatest extent, it is not without reason that fears 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


227 


are entertained of the existence of a spirit tending strongly 
to an unlimited, if it be but an elective, government. 

Surely, Gentlemen, this government can go through no 
such change. Long before that change could take place, 
the Constitution would be shattered to pieces, and the Union 
of the States become matter of past history. To the 
Union, therefore, as well as to civil liberty, to every interest 
which we enjoy and value, to all that makes us proud of 
our country, or which renders our country lovely in our 
own eyes, or dear to our own hearts, nothing can be more 
repugnant, nothing more hostile, nothing more directly 
destructive, than excessive, unlimited, unconstitutional confi¬ 
dence in men ; nothing worse, than the doctrine that official 
* agents may interpret the public will in their own way, in 
defiance of the Constitution and the laws ; or that they may 
set up any thing for the declaration of that will except the 
Constitution and the laws themselves; or that any public 
officer, high or low, should undertake to constitute himself 
or to call himself the representative of the people , except so 
far as the Constitution and the laws create and denominate 
him such representative. There is no usurpation so danger¬ 
ous as that which comes in the borrovved name of the peo¬ 
ple. If from some other authority, or other source, pre¬ 
rogatives be attempted to be enforced upon the people, they 
naturally oppose and resist it. It is an open enemy, and 
they can easily subdue it. But that whidh professes to act 
in their own name, and by their own authority, that which 
calls itself their servant, although it exercises their power 
without legal right or constitutional sanction, requires some¬ 
thing more of vigilance to detect, and something more of 
stern patriotism to repress; and if it be not seasonably both 
detected and repressed, then the republic is already in the 
downward path of those which have .gone before it. 

I hold, therefore, Gentlemen, that a strict submission, by 
every branch of the government, to the limitations and 
restraints of the Constitution, is of the very essence of all 
security for the preservation of liberty ; and that no one can 
be a true and intelligent friend of that liberty, who will con¬ 
sent that any man in public station, whatever he may think 


228 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


of the honesty of his motives, shall assume to exercise an 
authority above the Constitution and the laws. Whatever 
government is not a government of laws, is a despotism, let 
it be called what it may. 

Gentlemen, on an occasion like this, I ought not to detain 
you longer. Let us hope for the best, in behalf of this 
great and happy country, and of our glorious Constitution. 
Indeed, Gentlemen, we may well congratulate ourselves that 
the country is so young, so fresh, and so vigorous, that it 
can bear a great deal of bad government. It can take an 
enormous load of official mismanagement on its shoulders, 
and yet go ahead. Like the vessel impelled by steam, it 
can move forward, not only without other than the ordinary^ 
means, but even when those means oppose it; it can make 
its way in defiance of the elements, and 

“ Against the wind, against the tide, 

Still steady, with an upright keel.” 

There are some things, however, which the country can¬ 
not stand. It cannot stand any shock of civil liberty, or 
any disruption of the Union. Should either of these hap¬ 
pen, the vessel of the state will have no longer either steer¬ 
age or motion. She will lie on the billows helpless and 
hopeless, the scorn and contempt of all the enemies of free 
institutions, and an object of indescribable grief to all their 
friends. 


PRESENTATION OF A VASE. 

Speech delivered at the Odeon, on Occasion of the Presentation of a Silver Vase, by Citizens 
of Boston, on the 12 th of October, 1835 . 

The Yase was placed on a pedestal covered with the American Flag, 
and contained on its front the following inscription : — 

To Daniel Webster, defender of the Constitution of the United States; 
from Citizens of Boston , October 12, 1835. 

Hon. Francis C. Gray, in behalf of his fellow-citizens, addressed Mr. 
Webster in a neat and appropriate style, and requested his acceptance 
of the Yase. 

Mr. Webster replied : — 



SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


229 


Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : — I accept, with grate¬ 
ful respect, the present which it is ypur pleasure to make. 
I value it. It bears an expression of your regard for those 
political principles which I have endeavored to maintain ; 
and though the material were less costly, or the workman¬ 
ship less elegant, any durable evidence of your approbation 
could not but give me high satisfaction. 

This approbation is the more gratifying, as it is not be¬ 
stowed for services connected with local questions or local 
interests, or which are supposed to have been peculiarly 
beneficial to yourselves, but for efforts which had the inter¬ 
ests of the whole country for their object, and which were 
useful, if useful at all, to all who live under the blessings of 
the Constitution and government of the United States. • 

It is twelve or thirteen years, Gentlemen, since I was hon¬ 
ored with a seat in Congress, by the choice of the citizens 
of Boston. They saw fit to repeat that choice more than 
once; and I embrace, with pleasure, this opportunity of ex¬ 
pressing to them my sincere and profound sense of obliga¬ 
tion for these manifestations of confidence. At a later 
period, the Legislature of the State saw fit to transfer me to 
another place ; and have again renewed the trust, under 
circumstances which I have felt to impose upon me new ob¬ 
ligations of duty, and an increased devotion to the political 
welfare of the country. These twelve or thirteen years, 
Gentlemen, have been years of labor, and not without sacri¬ 
fices ; but both have been more than compensated by the 
kindness, the good will, qnd the favorable interpretation 
with which my discharge of official duties has been received. 
In this changing world, we can hardly say that we possess 
what is present, and the future is all unknown. But the 
past is ours. Its acquisitions, and its enjoyments, are safe. 
And among these acquisitions, among the treasures of the 
past most to be cherished and preserved, I shall ever reckon 
the proofs of esteem and confidence which I have received 
from the citizens of Boston and the Legislature of Massa¬ 
chusetts. 

In one respect, Gentlemen, your present oppresses me. 
It overcomes me by its tone of commendation. It assigns 
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' 230 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


to me a character of which I feel I am not worthy. “ The 
Defender of the Constitution ” is a title quite too high for 
me. He who shall prove himself the ablest among the able 
men of the country, he who shall serve it longest among 
those who may serve it long, he on whose labors all the stars 
of benignant fortune shall shed their selectest influence, will 
have praise enough, and reward enough, if, at the end of his 
political and earthly career, though that career may have 
been as bright as the track of the sun across the sky, the 
marble under which he sleeps, and that much better record, 
the grateful breasts of his living countrymen, shall pronounce 
him “the Defender of the Constitution.” It is enough for 
me, Gentlemen, to be connected, in the most humble man¬ 
ner, with the defence and maintenance of this great wonder 
of modern times, and this certain wonder of all future times. 
It is enough for me to stand in the ranks, and only to be 
counted as one of its defenders. 

The Constitution of the United States, I am confident, 
will protect the name and the memory both of its founders 
and of its friends, even of its humblest friends. It will im¬ 
part to both something of its own ever-memorable and en¬ 
during distinction; I had almost said, something of its own 
everlasting remembrance. Centuries hence, when the vicis¬ 
situdes of human affairs shall have broken it, if ever they 
shall break it, into fragments, these very fragments, every 
shattered column, every displaced foundation stone, shall yet 
be sure to tyring them all into recollection, and attract to 
them the respect ancl gratitude of mankind. 

Gentlemen, it is to pay respect to this Constitution, it is 
to manifest your attachment to it, your sense of its value, 
and your devotion to its true principles, that you have sought 
this occasion. It is not to pay an ostentatious personal 
compliment. If it were, it would be unworthy both of 
you and of me. It is not to manifest attachment to in¬ 
dividuals, independent of all considerations of principles ; if 
it were, I should feel it my duty to tell you, friends as you 
are, that you were doing that which, at this very moment, 
constitutes one of the most threatening dangers to the Con¬ 
stitution itself. Your gift would have no value in my eyes, 


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231 


this occasion would be regarded by me as an idle pageant, 
if I did not know that they are both but modes chosen by 
you, to signify your attachment to the true principles of the 
Constitution ; your fixed purpose, so for as in you lies, to 
maintain those principles; and your resolution to support 
public men, and stand by them, so long as they shall sup¬ 
port and stand by the Constitution of the country, and no 
longer. 

“ The Constitution of the country ! ” Gentlemen, often 
as I am called to contemplate this subject, its importance 
always rises, and magnifies itself more and more, before me. 
I cannot view its preservation as a concern of narrow extent, 
or temporary duration. On the contrary, I see in it a vast 
„ interest, which is to run down with the generations of men, 
and to spread over a great portion of the earth with a direct, 
and over the rest with an indirect, but a most powerful influ¬ 
ence. When I speak of it here, in this thick crowd of 
fellow-citizens and friends, I yet behold, thronging about me, 
a much larger and more imposing crowd. I see a united 
rush of the present and the future. I see all the patriotic 
of our own land, and our own time. I see also the many 
millions of their posterity, and I see, too, the lovers of hu¬ 
man liberty from every part of the earth, from beneath the 
oppressions of thrones, and hierarchies, and dynasties, from 
amidst the darkness of ignorance, degradation, .and despot¬ 
ism, into which any ray of political light has penetrated;" I 
see all those countless multitudes gather about us, and I hear 
their united and earnest voices, conjuring us, in whose 
charge the treasure now is, to hold on, and hold on to the 
last, by that which is our own highest enjoyment and their 
best hope. 

Filled with these sentiments, Gentlemen, and having 
through my political life hitherto always acted under the deep¬ 
est conviction of their truth and importance, it is natural that 
I should have regarded the preservation of the Constitution 
as the first great political object to be secured. But 1 claim 
no exclusive merit. I should deem it, especially, both unbe¬ 
coming and unjust in me to separate myself, in this respect, 
from other public servants of the people of Massachusetts. 


232 


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The distinguished gentlemen who have preceded and fol¬ 
lowed me in the representation of the city, their associates 
from other districts of the State, and my late worthy and 
most highly-esteemed colleague, are entitled, one and all, 
to a full share in the public approbation. If accidental cir¬ 
cumstances, or a particular position, have sometimes ren¬ 
dered me more prominent, equal patriotism and equal zeal 
have yet made them equally deserving. It were invidious 
to enumerate these fellow-laborers, or to discriminate among 
them. Long may they live! and I could hardly express a 
better wish for the interest and honor of the States, than 
that the public men who may follow them may be as dis¬ 
interested, as patriotic, and as able as they have proved 
themselves. 

There have been, Gentlemen, it is true, anxious moments. 
That was an anxious occasion, to which the gentleman who 
has addressed me in your behalf has alluded ; I mean the de¬ 
bate in January, 1830. It seemed to me then that the Con¬ 
stitution was about to be abandoned. Threatened with most 
serious dangers, it was not only not defended, but attacked, 
as I thought, and weakened and wounded in its vital powers 
and faculties, by those to whom the country naturally looks 
for its defence and protection. It appeared to me that the 
Union was about to go to pieces before the people were at all 
aware of the extent of the danger. The occasion was not 
sought, but forced upon us; it seemed to me momentous, 
and I confess that I felt that even the little that I could do, in 
such a crisis, was called for by every motive which could be 
addressed to a lover of the Constitution. I took a part in 
the debate, therefore,- with my whole heart already in the 
subject, and careless for every thing in the result, except the 
judgment which the people of the United States should form 
upon the questions involved in the discussion. I believe 
that judgment has been definitely pronounced; but nothing 
is due to me, beyond the merit of having made an earnest 
effort to present the true question to the people, and to- in¬ 
voke for it that attention from them, which its high impor¬ 
tance appeared to me to demand. 

The Constitution of the United States, Gentlemen, is of 


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233 


a peculiar structure. Our whole system is peculiar. It 
is fashioned according to no existing model, likened to no 
precedent, and yet founded on principles which lie at the 
foundations of all free governments, wherever such govern¬ 
ments exist. It is a complicated system. It is elaborate, 
and in some sense artificial, in its composition. We have 
twenty-four State sovereignties, all exercising legislative, 
judicial, and executive powers. Some of the sovereignties, 
or States, had long existed, and, subject only to the restraint 
of the power of the parent country, had been accustomed 
to the forms and to the exercise of the powers of representa¬ 
tive republics. Others of them are new creations, coming 
into existence only under the Constitution itself; but all 
now standing on an equal footing. 

The general government, under which all these States are 
united, is not, as has been justly remarked by Mr. Gray, a 
confederation. It is much more than a confederation. It 
is a popular representative government, with all the depart¬ 
ments, and all the functions and organs, of such a govern¬ 
ment. But it is still a limited, a restrained, a severely 
guarded government. It exists under a written constitution, 
and all that human wisdom could do is done, to define its 
powers and to prevent their abuse. It is placed in what 
was supposed to be the safest medium between dangerous 
authority on the one hand, and debility and inefficiency on 
the other. I think that happy medium was found, by the 
exercise of the greatest political sagacity, and the influence 
of the highest good fortune. We cannot move the system 
either way, without the probability of hurtful change ; and 
as experience has taught us, its safety, and its usefulness, 
when left where it is, our duty is a plain one. 

It cannot be doubted that a system thus complicated must 
be accompanied by more or less of danger, in every stage 
of its existence. It has not the simplicity of despotism. It 
is not a plain column, that stands self-poised and self-sup¬ 
ported. Nor is it a loose, irregular, unfixed, and undefined 
system of rule, which admits of constant and violent changes, 
without losing its character. But it is a balanced and 
guarded system ; a system of checks and controls; a sys- 
20 * 


234 


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tem in which powers are carefully delegated, and as care¬ 
fully limited; a system in which the symmetry of the parts 
is designed to produce an aggregate whole, which shall be 
favorable to personal liberty, favorable to public prosperity, 
and favorable to national glory. And who can deny, that, 
by a trial of fifty years, this American* system of govern¬ 
ment has proved itself capable of conferring all these bless¬ 
ings ? These years have been years of great agitation 
throughout the civilized world. In the course of them the 
face of Europe has been completely changed. Old and 
corrupt governments have been destroyed, and new ones, 
erected in their places, have been destroyed too, sometimes 
in rapid succession. Yet, through all the extraordinary, 
the most extraordinary scenes of this half century, the free, 
popular, representative government of the United States has 
stood, and has afforded security for liberty, for property, and 
for reputation, to all citizens. 

That it has been exposed to many dangers, that it has 
met critical moments, is certain. That it is now exposed 
to dangers, and that a crisis is now before it, is equally 
clear, in my judgment. But it has hitherto been preserved, 
and vigilance and patriotism may rescue it again. #< 

Our dangers, Gentlemen, are not from without. We 
have nothing to fear from foreign powers, except those in¬ 
terruptions of the occupations of life which all wars occa¬ 
sion. The dangers to our system, as a system, do not 
spring from that quarter. On the contrary, the pressure of 
foreign hostility would be most likely to unite us, and to 
strengthen our union, by an augmented sense of its utility 
and necessity. But our dangers are from within. I do not 
now speak of those dangers which have in all ages beset 
republican governments, such as luxury among the rich, the 
corruption of public officers, and the general degradation of 
public morals. I speak only of those peculiar dangers to 
which the structure of our government particularly exposes 
it, in addition to all other ordinary dangers. These arise 
among ourselves ; they spring up at home; and the evil 
which they threaten is no less than disunion, or the over¬ 
throw of the whole system. Local feelings and local parties, 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


235 


a notion sometimes sedulously cultivated of opposite inter¬ 
ests in different portions of the Union, evil prophecies re¬ 
specting its duration, cool calculations upon the benefits of 
separation, a narrow feeling that cannot embrace all the 
States as one country, an unsocial, anti-national, and halfr 
belligerent spirit, which sometimes betrays itself, — all these 
undoubtedly are causes which affect, more or less, our 
prospect of holding together. All these are unpropitious 
influences. 

The Constitution, again, is founded on compromise, and 
the most perfect and absolute good faith, in regard to every 
stipulation of this kind contained in it, is indispensable to 
its preservation. Every attempt to accomplish even the best 
purpose, every attempt to grasp that which is regarded as 
an immediate good, in violation of these stipulations, is full 
of danger to the whole Constitution. I need not say, also, 
that possible collision between the general and the State 
governments always has been, is, and ever must be, a source 
of danger to be strictly watched by wise men. 

I desire not to stand before the country as a man of no 
opinions, or of such a mixture of opposite opinions that the 
result has no character at all. On the contrary, I am de¬ 
sirous of standing as one who is bound to his own con¬ 
sistency by the frankest avowal of his sentiments on all im¬ 
portant and interesting subjects. I am not partly for the 
Constitution, and partly against it; I am wholly for it, for it 
altogether, for it as it is, and for the exercise, when occa¬ 
sion requires, of all its just powers, as they have heretofore 
been exercised by Washington, and the great men who have 
followed him in its administration. 

I disdain, altogether, the character of an uncommitted 
man. I am committed, fully committed; committed to the 
full extent of all that I am, and all that I hope, to the Con¬ 
stitution of the country, to its love and reverence, to its de¬ 
fence and maintenance, to its warm commendation to every 
American heart, and to its vindication and just praise, before 
all mankind. And I am committed against every thing 
which, in my judgment, may weaken, endanger, or destroy 
it. I am committed against the encouragement of local 


236 


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parties and local feelings ; I am committed against all fos¬ 
tering of anti-national spirit; I am committed against the 
slightest infringement of the original compromise on which 
the Constitution was founded ; I am committed against any 
and every derangement of the powers of the several depart¬ 
ments of the government, against any derogation from the 
constitutional authority of Congress, and especially against 
all extension of executive power; and I am committed 
against any attempt to rule the free people of this country 
by the power and the patronage of the government itself. 
I am 'committed, fully and entirely committed, against 
making the government the people’s master. 


SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE DISTRICT OF 
COLUMBIA. 

Remarks made in the Senate of the United States, on the lGth of March, 1836, on ■presenting 
sundry Abolition Petitions. 

Agreeably to notice, I offer sundry petitions on the sub¬ 
ject of slavery and the slave trade in the District of Co¬ 
lumbia. 

I ask, Sir, that these petitions may be received, and I 
move that they be referred to the Committee on the Dis¬ 
trict of Columbia. This motion itself, Sir, sufficiently shows 
in what manner I think this subject ought to be treated in 
the Senate. 

The petitioners ask Congress to consider Ihe propriety " 
and expediency of two things ; first, of making provision 
for the extinction of slavery in the District; second, of abol¬ 
ishing or restraining the trade in slaves within the District. 
Similar petitions have already been received by the Senate. 
Those gentlemen who think Congress have no power over 
any part of the subject, if they are clear and settled in that 
opinion, were perfectly justifiable in voting not to receive 
them. Any petition which, in our opinion, asks us to do 
that which is plainly against the Constitution, we might very 
justly reject. If persons, for instance, should petition us to 
pass a law abridging the freedom of the press, or respecting 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


237 


an establishment of religion, such petition would very prop¬ 
erly be denied any reception at all. 

In doubtful cases, we should incline to-receive and con¬ 
sider ; because doubtful cases ought not to be decided 
without consideration. But I cannot regard this case as a 
doubtful one. I think the constitutional power of Congress 
over the subject is clear, and therefore that we were bound 
to receive the petitions. And a large majority of the Senate 
are also of opinion, that petitions of this kind ought to be 
received. 

I have often, Mr. President, expressed the opinion, that 
over slavery, as it exists in the States, this government has 
no control whatever. It is entirely and exclusively a State 
concern. And while it is thus .clear that Congress has no 
direct power over the subject, it is our duty to take care 
that the authority of this government is not brought to bear 
upon it by any indirect interference whatever. It must be 
left to the States, to the course of things, and to those causes 
over which this government has no control. All this, in my 
opinion, is in the clear line of our duty. 

On the other hand, believing that Congress has constitu¬ 
tional power over slavery, and the trade in slaves, within 
the District, I think petitions on those subjects, respectfully 
presented, ought to be respectfully viewed, and respectfully 
considered. The respectful mode, the proper mode, is the 
ordinary mode. We have a committee on the affairs of the 
District. For very obvious reasons, and without any refer¬ 
ence to this question, this committee is ordinarily composed 
principally of Southern gentlemen. For many years a 
member from Virginia or Maryland has, I believe, been at 
the head of the committee. The committee, therefore, is 
the appropriate one, and there can be no possible objection 
to it on account of the manner in which it is constituted. 

Now I believe, Sir, that the unanimous opinion of the 
North is, that Congress has no authority over slavery in 
the States; and it is perhaps equally unanimous in the 
opinion, that over slavery in the District it has such rightful 
authority. 

Then, Sir, the question is a question of the fitness, pro- 


238 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


priety, justice, and expediency of considering these two 
subjects, or either of them, according to the prayer of 
these petitions. 

It is well known to us and to the country, that Congress 
has hitherto entertained inquiries on both these points. On 
the 9th of January, 1809, the House of Representatives re¬ 
solved, by very large majorities, “ That the Committee on 
the District of Columbia be instructed to take into considera¬ 
tion the laws within the District in respect to slavery; that 
they inquire into the slave trade as it exists in, and is carried 
on through, the District; and that they report to the House 
such amendments to the existing laws as shall seem to them 
to be just.” 

It resolved also, “ That the committee be further in¬ 
structed to inquire into the expediency of providing by 
law for the gradual abolition of slavery within the District, 
in such manner that the interest of no individual shall be 
injured thereby.” 

As early as March, 1816, the same House, on f the motion 
of Mr. Randolph, of Virginia, resolved, “ That a committee 
be appointed to inquire into the existence of an inhuman 
and illegal traffic of slaves carried on in and through the 
District of Columbia, and to report whether any, and what, 
measures are necessary for putting a stop to the same.” 

It is known, also, Sir, that the legislature of Pennsyl¬ 
vania has within a very few years urged qpon Congress the 
propriety of providing for the abolition of slavery in the 
District. The House of Assembly of New York, about the 
same time, I think, passed a similar vote. 

After these proceedings, Mr. President, which were gen¬ 
erally known, 1 think the country was not at all prepared to 
find that these petitions would be objected to on the ground 
that they asked for the exercise of an authority on the part 
of Congress, which Congress cannot constitutionally exer¬ 
cise ; or that, having been formally received, the prayer of 
them, in regard to both objects, would be immediately re¬ 
jected, without reference to a committee, and without any 
inquiry. 

Now, Sir, the propriety, justice, and fitness of any inter- 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


239 


ference of Congress, for either of the purposes stated in the 
petitions, are the points on which, as it seems to me, it is 
highly proper for a committee to make a report. The well 
disposed and patriotic among these petitioners are entitled 
to be respectfully answered; and if there be among them 
others whose motives are less praiseworthy, it is not the part 
of prudence to give them the advantage which they would 
derive from a right to complain that the Senate had acted 
hastily or summarily on their petitions, without inquiry or 
consideration. 

Let the committee set forth their own views on these 
points, dispassionately, fully, and candidly ; let the argument 
be seen and heard; let the people be trusted with it ; and I 
have no doubt that a fair discussion of the subject will pro¬ 
duce its proper effect, both in and out of the Senate. 

This, Sir, would have been, and is, the course of proceed¬ 
ing which appears to me to be prudent and just. The Senate, 
however, having decided otherwise, by a very large majority, 
I only say so much on the present occasion, as may suffice 
to make my own opinions known. 

In reply to Mr. King, of Alabama, Mr. Webster said : — 

I am not aware of having said any thing which can jus¬ 
tify the remarks of the honorable member. By what au¬ 
thority does the gentleman say that I have placed myself at 
the head of these petitioners ? The gentleman cannot be 
allowed, Sir, to assign to me any place or any character 
which I do not choose to take to myself. I have only ex¬ 
pressed my opinion as to the course which it is prudent and 
wise in us all to adopt, in disposing of these petitions. 

It is true that, while the question oil the reception of the 
petitions was pending, I observed that I should hold back 
these petitions till that question was decided. It is decided. 
The Senate has decided to receive the petitions; and being 
received, the manner of treating them must necessarily be 
settled. The origin of the authority of Congress over this 
District; the views and objects of the States in ceding the 
territory ; the little interest which this government has in the 
general question of slavery, and the great magnitude of the 


240 


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interest which individual States have in it; the great danger 
to the government itself of agitating the question here while 
things remain in their present posture in the States around 
us,—these, Sir, are considerations all intimately belonging 
to the question, as I think, and which a competent com¬ 
mittee would naturally present to the Senate and to the 
public. 

Mr. President, I feel bound to make one further remark. 
Whatever gentlemen may think of it, I assure them that 
these petitions, at least in many cases, have no factious ori¬ 
gin, no political or party origin. Such may be the origin 
of some of them. I am quite sure it is not of all. Many 
of them arise from a sense of religious duty; and that is a 
feeling which should be reasoned with, but cannot be sup¬ 
pressed by a mere summary exercise of authority. I wish 
that all reasonable men may be satisfied with our proceed¬ 
ings ; and that we may so act in regard to the whole matter 
as shall promote harmony, strengthen the bonds of our 
Union, and increase the confidence, both of the North and 
the South, in this government. 


THE LOUISVILLE CANAL. 

Remarks made in the Senate of the United States, on the Bill to authorize the Purchase, on 
the Part of the Government, of the Private Stock in the Louisville and Portland Canal, 
on the 25 th of May, 1836. 

Mr. President, — I regret the warmth with which my 
friend from Ohio,* and my friend from Louisiana,! have 
spoken on this occasion; but while I regret it, I can hardly 
say 1 blame it. They have expressed disappointment, and I 
think they may well feel disappointment. I confess, Sir, I 
feel disappointment also. Looking to the magnitude of this 
object, looking to its highly-interesting character to the 
West, looking to the great concern which our Western 
friends have manifested for its success, I myself feel, not 
only disappointment, but, in some degree, mortification, at 
the result of the vote which has now been taken. That 


* Mr. Ewing. 


f Mr. Porter. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


241 


vote, if it stands, must be decisive of the success of the 
measure. 

No doubt, Sir, it is altogether vain to pass this bill, unless 
it contain such provisions as will induce the stockholders in 
the corporation to part with their interests. 

In the first place, Sir, why do we hear so much reproach 
and denunciation against the members of this corporation 1 
Have they not hazarded their property in an undertaking of 
great importance and utility to the country 1 Has not Con¬ 
gress itself encouraged their enterprise, by taking a part of 
the stock on account of the government 1 Are we not our¬ 
selves shareholders in this company 1 Their tolls, it is said, 
are large,; that is true. Yet not only did they run all the 
risks usually attending such enterprises, but, even with their 
large tolls, all their receipts, up to this hour, by no means 
give a return from their capital equal to the ordinary interest 
of money in that part of the country. 

There appears to me very great injustice in speaking of 
their tolls as “ fines,” and “penalties,” and unjust impositions, 
or of their charter as an odious monopoly. Who called it 
so, or who so thought of it when it was granted to them 1 
Who but they were willing to undertake the work, to ad¬ 
vance the money, and to run the risks and chances of failure ? 
Who then blamed, reproached, or denounced the enterprising 
individuals who hazarded their money in a project to make 
a canal around the Falls of the Ohio ? Who then spoke 
of their tolls as impositions, fines, and penalties ? Nobody, 
Sir. Then all was encouragement and cheering onward. 
The cry was then, Go on! run the hazard; try the experi¬ 
ment ; let our vessels and boats have a passage round this 
obstruction; make an effort to overcome this great obstacle. 
If you fail, the loss, indeed, will be yours; but if you suc¬ 
ceed, all the world will agree that you ought to be fairly and 
fully remunerated for the risk and expenditure of capital. 

Sir, we are bound in all justice and fairness to respect the 
legal rights of these corporators. For one, I not only re¬ 
spect their legal rights, but I honor their enterprise, I com¬ 
mend their perseverence, and I think they deserve well of 
the community. 


21 


242 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


But nevertheless, Sir, I am for making* this navigation 
free. If there were no canal, I should be for making one, 
or for devising other modes of removing the obstructions in 
the river. As there is a canal, now the subject of private 
ownership and private property, I am for buying it out, and 
opening it, toll free, to all who navigate the river. In my 
opinion, this work is of importance enough to demand the 
attention of government. To be sure it is but a canal, and 
a canal round the falls of a river ; but that river is the Ohio. 
It is one of those vast streams which form a part of the 
great water communication of the West. It is one of those 
running seas which bear on their bosom the riches of West- 
ern commerce. It is a river ; but to the uses of man, to 
the purposes of trade, to the great objects of communica¬ 
tion, it is one of those rivers which has the character of an 
ocean. Indeed, when one looks at the map, and glances his 
eye on all these rivers, lie sees at once water enough to con¬ 
stitute or to fill an ocean, pouring from different, distant, and 
numerous sources, and flowing many thousand miles, in 
various channels, with breadth and depth of water in each 
sufficient for all the purposes of rapid communication and 
extensive trade. And if, in any portion of these inland seas, 
we find obstructions which the hand of man can remove, 
who can say that such removal is not an object worthy the 
attention of government ? 

Whoever, Mr. President, would do his duty, and his whole 
duty, in the councils of this government, must look upon the 
country as it is, in its whole length and breadth. He must 
comprehend it in its vast extent, its novel character, its sud¬ 
den development, its amazing progress, confounding all cal¬ 
culation, and almost overwhelming the imagination. Our 
rivers are not the rivers of the European world. We have 
not to deal with the Trent, the Thames, and the Severn. 
With us, at least in this part of our country, navigation from 
the sea does not stop where the tide stops. Our ports and 
harbors are not at the mouths of rivers only, or at the head 
of the tides of the sea. Hundreds of miles, nay, thousands 
of miles, beyond the point where the tides of .the o^eun are 
felt, deep waters spread out, and capacious harbors open 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


243 


themselves to the reception of a. vast and increasing navi¬ 
gation. 

To be sure, Sir, this is a work of internal improvement; 
but it is not on that account either the less constitutional or 
the less important. Sir, I have taken a part in this great strug¬ 
gle for internal improvement from the beginning, and I shall 
hold out to the end. Whoever may follow, or whoever 
may fly, I shall go straightforward for all those constitutional 
powers, and for all that liberal policy, which I have hereto¬ 
fore supported. 

I remember, Sir, and, indeed, a very short memory might 
retain the recollection, when the first appropriations for har¬ 
bors on the great lakes were carried through this body, not 
without the utmost difficulty, and against the most deter¬ 
mined opposition. I remember when Lake Ontario, Lake 
Erie, and Lake Michigan were likely to be condemned to a 
continuance in the state in which nature and the Indian 
tribes had left them, with no proof upon their shores of the 
policy of a‘civilized state, no harbors for the shelter of a 
hundred vessels, no lighthouse even to point out to the inland 
navigator the dangers of his course. I remember even when 
the harbor of Buffalo was looked upon either as unimportant 
in itself, or, if not unimportant, yet as shut out from the care 
and the aid of Congress by a constitutional interdiction of 
works of internal improvement. But, Sir, in this case, as 
in others, the doctrine of internal improvement has estab¬ 
lished itself by its own necessity, its own obvious and con¬ 
fessed utility, and the benefits which it has already so widely 
conferred. So it will be, I have no doubt, in the case before 
us. We shall wonder hereafter who could doubt the pro¬ 
priety of setting free the navigation of the Ohio, and shall 
wonder that it was delayed even so long. 

Mr. President, on the question of constitutional power, I 
entertain not a particle of doubt. How is it, let me ask, 
that we appropriate money for harbors, piers, and break¬ 
waters on the sea coast 1 Where do we find power for 
this 1 Certainly in no part of the Constitution in which we 
cannot find equal power to pass this bill. The same clause 
covers such appropriations, inland as well as on the sea coast, 


244 


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or else it covers neither. We have foreign commerce, and 
we have internal commerce ;* and the power, and the duty 
also, of regulating, protecting, aiding, and fostering both, is 
given in the same words. For one, therefore, Sir, I look to 
the magnitude of the object, and not to its locality. I ask 
not whether it be east or west of the mountains. There are 
no Alleghanies in my politics. 

I care not whether it be an improvement on the shore of 
the sea, or on the shore of one of those mighty rivers, sa 
much like a sea, which flow through our vast interior. It is 
enough for me to know that the object is a good one, an im¬ 
portant one, within the scope of our powers, and called for 
by the fair claims of our commerce. So that it be in the 
Union, so that it be within the twenty-four States, or the 
twenty-six States, it cannot be too remote for me. This 
feeling, Sir, so natural, as I think, to true patriotism, is the 
dictate also of enlightened self-interest. Were I to look 
only to the benefits of my own immediate constituents, I 
should still support this measure. Is not our 'commerce 
floating on these Western rivers ? Are not our manufactures 
ascending them all, by day and night, by the power of steam, 
which is incessantly impelling a thousand engines, and forcing 
upwards, against their currents, hundreds of thousands of 
tons of freight 1 If these cargoes be lost, if they be in¬ 
jured, if their progress be delayed, if the expense of their 
transportation be increased, who does not see that all inter¬ 
ested in them become sufferers ? Who does not see that 
every producer, every manufacturer, every trader, every 
laborer, has an interest in these improvements ? Surely, 
Sir, this is one of the cases in which the interest of the 
whole is the interest of each. Every man has his dividend 
out of this augmented public advantage. But if it were not 
so, if the effect were more local, if the work were useful to 
the Western States alone, or useful mainly to Kentucky and 
Indiana alone, still I should think it a case fairly within our 
power, and important enough to demand our attention. 

But, Mr. President, I felt the more pain at the result of 
the last vote of the Senate on account of those Western 
gentlemen who are so much interested in this measure, and 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


245 


who have uniformly supported appropriations for other parts 
of the country, which, though just and proper, are, as it 
seems to me,* no more just and proper than this. 

These friends have stood by us. They have uniformly 
been found at our side, in the contest about internal im¬ 
provement. They have upheld that policy, and have gone 
with us through good report and evil report. And I now 
tell them that I shall stand by them. I shall be found 
where they look for me. I have asked their votes, once 
and again, for objects important to the Atlantic States. 
They have liberally given those votes. They have acted 
like enlightened and wise statesmen. I have duly estimated 
the high justice and liberality of their conduct. And hav¬ 
ing now an object interesting to them and to their constit¬ 
uents, a just object and a great object, they have a right to 
find me at their side, acting with them, acting according to 
my own principles, and proving my own consistency. And 
so they shall find me ; and so they do find me. On this 
occasion 1 am with them ; I am one of them. I am as 
Western a man, on this bill, as he among them who is most 
Western. This chair must change its occupant, another 
voice will address the Senate from this seat, before an object 
of this nature, so important, so constitutional, so expedient, 
so highly desirable to a great portion of the country, and so 
useful to the whole, shall fail here, for the want, either of a 
decisive vote in its support, or of an earnest recommendation 
of it to the support of others. 


PROTEST AGAINST THE EXPUNGING RESOLUTION. 

Remarks made in the Senate of the United States , on the 16th of January , 1837, by Way 
of Protest against expunging the Resolution of the 28 th of March , 1834, from the 
Journal. 

Mr. President, —Upon the truth and justice of the 
original resolution of the Senate, and upon the authority of 
the Senate to pass that resolution, I had an opportunity to 
express my opinions at a subsequent period, when the Pres- 
21 * 



246 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


ident’s Protest was before us. Those opinions remain 
altogether unchanged. 

And now, had the Constitution secured the privilege of 
entering a Protest on the journal, I should not say one 
w r ord on this occasion } although, if what is now proposed 
shall be accomplished, I know not what would have been the 
value of such a protest, however formally or carefully it 
might have been inserted in the body of that instrument. 

But as there is no such constitutional privilege, I can only 
effect my purpose by thus addressing the Senate; and I 
rise, therefore, to make that PROTEST in this manner, in 
the face of the Senate and in the face of the country, which 
I cannot present in any other form. 

I speak in my own behalf, and in behalf of my col¬ 
league ; we both speak as Senators from the State of Mas¬ 
sachusetts, and, a& such, we solemnly protest against this 
whole proceeding. 

We deny that Senators from other States have any power 
or authority to expunge any vote or votes which we have 
given here, and which we have recorded, agreeably to the 
express provision of the Constitution. 

We have a high personal interest, and the State whose 
representatives we are has also a high interest, in the pres¬ 
ervation entire of every part and parcel of the record of our 
conduct, as members of the Senate. 

This record the Constitution solemnly declares shall be 
kept; but the resolution before the Senate declares that this 
record shall be expunged. 

Whether subterfuge and evasion, and, as it appears to us, 
the degrading mockery of drawing black lines upon the 
journal, shall or shall not leave our names and our votes 
legible, when this violation of the record shall have been 
completed, still the terms “ to expunge ” and the terms “ to 
keep,” when applied to a record, import ideas exactly con¬ 
tradictory ; as much so as the terms “ to preserve ” and the 
terms “ to destroy.” 

A record which is expunged is not a record which is kept, 
any more than a record which is destroyed can be a record 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


247 


which is preserved. The part expunged is no longer part of 
the record; it has no longer a legal existence. It cannot 
be certified as a part of the proceedings of the Senate for 
any purpose of proof or evidence. 

The object of the provision in the Constitution, as we 
think, most obviously is, that the proceedings of the Senate 
shall be preserved in writing, not for the present only, not 
until published only, because a copy of the printed journal 
is not regular legal evidence; but preserved indefinitely; 
preserved, as other records are preserved, till destroyed by 
time or accident. 

Every one must see that matters of the highest impor¬ 
tance depend on the permanent preservation of the journals 
of the two houses. What but the journals show that bills 
have been regularly passed into laws, through the several 
stages; what but the journals show who are members, or 
who is President, or Speaker, or Secretary, or Clerk of the 
body ? What hut the journals contain the proof necessary 
for the justification of those who act under our authority, 
and who, without the power of producing such proof, must 
stand as trespassers ? What but the journals show who is 
appointed, and who rejected, by us, on the President’s nom¬ 
ination ; or who is acquitted, or who convicted, in trials on 
impeachment ? In short, is there, at any time, any other 
regular and legal proof of any act done by the Senate than 
the journal itself? 

The idea, therefore, that the Senate is bound to preserve 
its journal only until it is published, and then may alter, 
mutilate, or destroy it at pleasure, appears to us one of the 
most extraordinary sentiments ever advanced. 

We feel grateful to those friends who have shown, with 
so much clearness, that all the precedents relied on to jus¬ 
tify or to excuse this proceeding are either not to the pur¬ 
pose, or, from the times and circumstances at and under 
which they happened, are no way entitled to respect in a free 
government, existing under a written constitution. But for 
ourselves, we stand on the plain words of that Constitution 
itself. A thousand precedents elsewhere made, whether 


248 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


ancient or modern, can neither rescind, nor control, nor 
explain away these words. 

The words are, that “ each house shall keep a journal of 
its proceedings.” No gloss, no ingenuity, no specious inter¬ 
pretation, and much less any fair or just reasoning, can 
reconcile the process of expunging with the plain meaning 
of these words, to the satisfaction of the common sense and 
honest understanding of mankind. 

If the Senate may now expunge one part of the journal 
of a former session, it may, with equal authority, expunge 
another part, or the whole. It may expunge the entire 
record of any one session, or of all sessions. 

It seems to us inconceivable how any men can regard.* 
such a power, and its exercise at pleasure, as consistent with 
the injunction of the Constitution. It can make no differ- 
, ence what is the completeness or incompleteness of the act 
of expunging, or by what means done; whether by erasure, 
obliteration, or defacement; if by defacement, as here pro¬ 
posed, whether one word or many words are written on the 
face of the record ; whether little ink or much ink is shed 
on the paper; or whether some part, or the whole, of the 
original written journal may yet by possibility be traced. 
If the act done be an act to expunge, to blot out, to obliter¬ 
ate, to erase the record, then the record is expunged, blotted 
out, obliterated, and erased. And mutilation and alteration 
violate the record as much as obliteration or erasure. A 
record, subsequently altered, is not the original record. It 
no longer gives a just account of the proceedings of the 
Senate. It is no longer true. It is, in short, no journal of 
the real and actual proceedings of the Senate, such as the 
Constitution says each house shall keep. 

The Constitution, therefore, is, in our deliberate judg¬ 
ment, violated by this proceeding, in the most plain and 
open manner. 

The Constitution, moreover, provides that the yeas and 
nays , on any question, shall, at the request of one fifth of 
the members present, be entered on the journal. This pro¬ 
vision, most manifestly, gives a personal right, to those 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


249 


members who may demand it, to the entry and preservation 
of their votes on the record of the proceedings of the body, 
not for one day or one year only, but for all time. There 
the yeas and nays are to stand, for ever, as permanent and 
lasting proof of the manner in which members have voted 
on great and important questions before them. 

But it is now insisted that the votes of members taken by 
yeas and nays , and thus entered on the journal, as matter of 
right, may still be expunged; so that that*which it requires 
more than four fifths of the Senators to prevent from being 
put on the journal may, nevertheless, be struck off, and 
erased, the next moment, or at any period afterwards, by 
the will of a mere majority; or if this be denied, then the 
absurdity is adopted of maintaining that this provision of 
the Constitution is fulfilled by merely preserving the yeas 
and nays on the journal, after having expunged and obliter¬ 
ated the very resolution, or the very question, on which they 
were given, and to which alone they refer; leaving the yeas 
and nays thus a mere list of names, connected with no sub¬ 
ject, no question, no vote. We put it to the impartial judg¬ 
ment of mankind, if this proceeding be not in this respect 
also directly and palpably inconsistent with the Constitution. 

We protest, in the most solemn manner, that other Sena¬ 
tors have no authority to deprive us of our personal rights, 
secured to us by the Constitution, either by expunging, or 
obliterating, or mutilating, or defacing the record of our 
votes, duly entered Xw yeas and nays; or by expunging and 
obliterating the resolutions or questions on which these votes 
were given and recorded. 

We have seen, with deep and sincere pain, the legisla¬ 
tures of respectable States instructing the Senators of those 
States to vote for and support this violation of the journal 
of the Senate; and this pain is infinitely increased by our 
full belief, and entire conviction, that most, if not all, these 
proceedings of States had their origin in promptings from 
Washington; that they have been urgently requested and 
insisted on, as being necessary to the accomplishment of the 
intended purpose; and that it is nothing else but the influ¬ 
ence and power of the executive branch of this government 


253 


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which has brought the legislatures of so many of the free 
States of this Union to quit the sphere of their ordinary 
duties, for the purpose of cooperating to accomplish a meas¬ 
ure, in our judgment, so unconstitutional, so derogatory to 
the character of the Senate, and marked with so broad, an 
impression of compliance with power. 

But this resolution is to pass. We expect it. That 
cause which has been powerful enough to influence so many 
State legislatures will show itself powerful enough, espe¬ 
cially with such aids, to secure the passage of the resolution 
here. 

We make up our minds to behold the spectacle which is 
to ensue. We collect ourselves to look on in silence, while 
a scene is exhibited, which, if we did not regard it -as a 
ruthless violation of a sacred instrument, would appear to 
us to be little elevated above the character of a contempti¬ 
ble farce. This scene we shall behold, and hundreds of 
American citizens, as many as may crowd into these lobbies 
and galleries, will behold it also ; with what feelings I do 
not undertake to say. 

But we protest, we most solemnly protest, against the 
substance and against the manner of this proceeding ; against 
its object, against its form, and against its effect. We tell 
you that you have no right to mar or mutilate the record of 
our votes given here, and recorded according to the Consti¬ 
tution ; we tell you that we may as weLLerase the yeas and 
nays on any other question or resolutron, or on all ques¬ 
tions and resolutions, as on this; we tell you that you have 
just as much right to falsify the record, by so altering it as 
to make us appear to have voted on any question as we did 
not vote, as you have to erase a record, and make that page 
a blank in which our votes, as they were actually given and 
recorded, now stand. The one proceeding, as it appears to 
us, is as much a falsification of the record as the other. 

Having made this PROTEST, our duty is performed. 
We rescue our own names, character, and honor from all 
participation in this matter; and whatever the wayward 
character of the times, the headlong and plunging spirit of 
party devotion, or the fear or the love of power, may have 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


251 


been able to bring about elsewhere, we desire to thank Cod 
that they have not, as yet, overcome the love of liberty, 
fidelity to true republican principles, and a sacred regard 
for the Constitution, in that State whose soil was drenched 
to a mire by the first and best blood of the Revolution. 
Massachusetts, as yet, has not been conquered; and while 
we have the honor to hold seats here as her Senators, we 
shall never consent to the sacrifice either of her rights or 
our own ; we shall never fail to oppose what we regard as a 
plain and open violation of the Constitution of the country ; 
and we should have thought ourselves wholly unworthy of 
her, if we had not, with all the solemnity and earnestness in 
our power, protested against the adoption of the resolu¬ 
tion now before the Senate. 


- ^ - 

A NATIONAL BANK. 

Remarks made in the Senate of the United States, on the 8th of February, 1837, on pre¬ 
senting' a Petition of a large Number of the Merchants of New York, for the Establish¬ 
ment of a National Bank. 

I rise, Mr. President, for the purpose of presenting to 
the Senate a petition signed by fourteen or fifteen hundred 
mercantile houses in the city of New York, praying for the 
establishment of a national bank in that city. These peti¬ 
tioners, Sir, set forth that, in their opinion, a national bank 
is the only remedy of a permanent character for the correc¬ 
tion of the evils now affecting the currency of the country 
and the commercial exchanges. The petition is accom¬ 
panied by a short communication from the committee raised 
for the purpose of preparing the petition, in which they 
state, what 1 believe to be true, from some knowledge of my 
own, that the petition is subscribed without reference to 
political distinctions; and they inform us, on the authority 
of their own observation and knowledge, that, in their opin¬ 
ion, on no subject did the mercantile community of New 
York ever address Congress with more entire unanimity 
than they now approach it, in favor of a national bank. 

Mr. President, my own opinions on this subject have long 



252 • 


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been known; and they remain now what they always have 
been. The constitutional, power of Congress to create a 
bank is made more apparent by the acknowledged necessity 
which the government is under to use some sort of banks 
as fiscal agents. The argument stated the other day by the 
member from Ohio, opposite to me, and which I have sug¬ 
gested often heretofore, appears to me unanswerable; and 
that is, that, if the government has the power to use corpo¬ 
rations in the fiscal concerns of the country, it must have 
the power to create such corporations. I have always 
thought that, when, by law, both houses of Congress de¬ 
clared the use of State banks necessary to the administra¬ 
tion of the revenue, every argument against the constitu¬ 
tional power of Congress to create a Bank of the United 
States was thereby surrendered; that it is plain that, if Con¬ 
gress has the power to adopt banks for the particular use 
of the government, it has the power to create such institu¬ 
tions also, if it deem that mode the best. No government 
creates corporations for the mere purpose of giving exist¬ 
ence to an artificial body. It is the end designed, the use 
to which it is to be applied, that decides the question, in 
general, whether the power exists to create such bodies. If 
such a corporation as a bank be necessary to government; 
if its use be indispensable, and if, on that ground, Congress 
may take into its service banks created by States, over 
which it has no control, and which are but poorly fitted for 
its purposes, how can it be maintained that Congress may 
not create a bank, by its own authority, responsible to itself, 
and well suited to promote the ends designed by it ? 

Mr. President, when the subject was last before the Sen¬ 
ate, I expressed my own resolution not to make .any move¬ 
ment towards the establishment of a national bank, till public 
opinion should call for it. In that resolution I still remain. 
But it gives me pleasure to have the opportunity of present¬ 
ing this petition, out of respect to the signers; and I have 
no unwillingness certainly to have a proper opportunity of 
renewing the expression of my opinions on the subject, 
although I know that, so general has become the impression 
hostile to such an institution, any movement here would be 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


253 


vain till there is a change in public opinion. That there 
will be such a change I fully believe; it will be brought 
about, I think, by experience and sober reflection among the 
people; and when it shall come, then will be the proper 
time for a movement on the subject in the public councils. 
Not only in New York, but from here to Maine, I believe it 
is now the opinion of five sixths of the whole mercantile 
community, that a national bank is indispensable to the 
steady regulation of the currency, and the facility and 
cheapness of exchanges. The board of trade at New York 
presented a memorial in favor of the same object some time 
ago. The Committee on Finance reported against the 
prayer of the petitioners, as was to have been expected 
fronj the known sentiments of a majority of that com¬ 
mittee. In presenting this petition now to the consideration 
of the Senate, I have done all that I purpose on this occa¬ 
sion, except to move that the petition be laid on the table 
and printed-. 

Sir, on the subjects of currency and of the exchanges of 
commerce, experience is likely to make us wiser than we 
now are. These highly-interesting subjects, interesting to 
the property, the business, and the means of support of all 
classes, ought not to be connected with mere party questions 
and temporary politics. In the business and transactions 
of life, men need security, steadiness, and a permanent sys¬ 
tem. This is the very last field for the exhibition of exper¬ 
iments, and I fervently hope that intelligent men, in and out 
of Congress, will cooperate in measures which may be rea¬ 
sonably expected to accomplish these desirable objects, de¬ 
sirable and important alike to all classes and descriptions of 
people. 


22 


254 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


THE MADISON PAPERS. 

Remarks made in the Senate of the United States, on the 20 th of February , 1837, in Rela¬ 
tion to the Purchase of the Manuscript Papers of Mr. Madison. 

Mr. President, — I suppose there is no member of the 
Senate who regards the sum proposed to be given for these 
manuscripts as too large, if the appropriation is within the 
just field of our constitutional powers. Now, what is the 
object of this appropriation 1 The Senate sits under a Con¬ 
stitution which has now endured more than fifty years, which 
was formed under very peculiar circumstances, under a great 
exigency, and in a manner in which no constitution was 
ever formed in any other country, on principles of united 
and yet divided legislation, altogether unexampled in the 
history of free states. I agree fully in the sentiment that 
the constant rule of interpretation to be applied to this in¬ 
strument is, that its restrictions are contained in itself, and 
that it is to be made, as far as possible, its own interpreter. 
I also agree that the practice under the government, for a 
long course of years, and the opinions of those who both 
formed the instrument, and afterward aided in carrying it 
into effect by laws passed under its authority, are to be the 
next source of interpretation; and it seems to me that the 
measure now proposed is of great importance, both in con¬ 
nection with the Constitution itself, and with the history of 
its interpretation. I shall not now speak of the political 
opinions of Mr. Madison. I look only to the general facts 
of the case. It is well known that the convention of great 
men who formed our Constitution sat with closed doors; 
that no report of their proceedings was published at that 
time; and that their debates were listened to by none but 
themselves and the officers in attendance. We have, indeed, 
the official journal kept by their order. It is an important 
document, but it informs us only of their official acts. We 
get from it nothing whatever of the debates of that illustri¬ 
ous body. Besides this, there are only a few published 
sketches, more or less valuable. But the connection of Mr. 
Madison with the Constitution and the government, and his 
profound knowledge of all that related to both, would neces- 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


255 


sarily give to any reports which he should have taken a su¬ 
perior claim to accuracy. It was his purpose, when he en¬ 
tered the body, to report its whole proceedings. He chose 
a position which best enabled him to do so ; nor was he ab¬ 
sent a single day during the whole period of its sittings. It 
was further understood that his report of the leading speech¬ 
es had been submitted to the members for correction. The 
fact was well known to them all, that he was thus collecting 
materials for a detailed report of their proceedings. With¬ 
out, therefore, seeing a page of these manuscripts, it is rea¬ 
sonable to conclude that they must contain matter not only 
highly interesting, but very useful; and it is my impression 
that, among this class of cases, the Senate could not better 
consult the wishes and interests of the American people than 
by letting them see a document of this character, from the 
pen of such a man as Mr. Madison. That gentleman was 
more connected with the Constitution than almost any other 
individual. He was present in that little assemblage that 
met at Annapolis in 1786, with whom the idea of the Con¬ 
vention originated. He was afterwards a member of the 
convention of Virginia which ratified the Constitution. He 
was next a member of the first Congress, and took an im¬ 
portant lead in the great duties of its legislation under that 
Constitution in the formation of which he had acted so con¬ 
spicuous a part. He afterwards filled the important station 
of Secretary of State, and was subsequently for eight years 
President of the United States. Thus, his whole life was 
intimately connected, first with the formation, and then with 
the administration, of the Constitution. 

Mr. President, I see no constitutional objection to the 
purchase of these manuscripts. Why do Congress pur¬ 
chase every year works on history, geography, botany, met¬ 
aphysics, and morals 1 How was it that they purchased a 
collection of works of the most miscellaneous character 
from Mr. Jefferson 1 The manuscripts in question stand in 
a different relation. They relate immediately and intimately 
to the nation’s own affairs, and especially to the construction 
of that great instrument under which the houses of Con¬ 
gress are now sitting. If the doctrine advanced by the 


256 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


Senator from South Carolina is to prevail, Congress ought 
forthwith to clear its library of every thing but the state 
papers. My views on the Constitution are well known ; 
whether an inspection of these papers will confirm and 
strengthen the views I entertain respecting that instrument, 
I cannot say ; but certainly, if they were now within my 
reach, I should be very eager to read them ; and their ex¬ 
amination would be one of the very first things that I should 
engage in. A report of such debates, from such a pen, can¬ 
not but be of the highest importance, and its perusal is well 
calculated to gratify a rational curiosity. It may throw 
much light on the early interpretation of the Constitution, 
and on the nature and structure of our government. But 
while it produces this effect, it may do more than all other 
things to show to the people of the United States through 
what conciliation, through what a temper of compromise, 
through what a just yielding of the judgment of one indi¬ 
vidual to that of another, through what a spirit of manly 
brotherly love, that assembly of illustrious men were ena¬ 
bled finally to agree upon the form of a Constitution for 
their country, and succeeded in conferring so great a good 
upon the American people. 


RECEPTION AT MADISON. 

Speech delivered at Madison, in the State of Indiana, on the ls£ of Jane, 1837. 

Governor Hendricks presided, and Mr. Marsh addressed Mr. Web¬ 
ster, and sincerely and cordially welcomed him to Madison. 

Mr. Webster replied: —* 

If, fellow-citizens, I can make myself heard by this nu¬ 
merous assembly, speaking, as I do, in the open air, I will 
return to you my heartfelt thanks for the kindness you have 
shown me. I come among you a stranger. On the day 
before yesterday I placed my foot, for the first time, on the 
soil of the great and growing State of Indiana. Although 
I have lived on terms of great intimacy and friendship with 
several Western gentlemen, members of Congress, among 



SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


257 


whom is your estimable townsman near me, (Governor 
Hendricks,) I have never before had an opportunity of seeing 
and forming an acquaintance for myself with my fellow- 
citizens of this section of the Union. I travel for this pur¬ 
pose. I confess that I regard with astonishment the evi¬ 
dences of intelligence, enterprise, and refinement every where 
exhibited around me, when I think of the short time that 
has elapsed since the spot where I stand was a howling wil¬ 
derness. Since I entered public life, this State was unknown 
as a political government. All the country west of the Al- 
leghanies and north-west of the Ohio constituted but one 
Territory, entitled to a single delegate in the councils of 
the nation, having the right to speak, but not to vote. 
Since then, the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, 
and the long strip of country known as the Territory of 
Wisconsin, have been carved out of it. Indiana, which 
numbers but twenty years since the commencement of her 
political existence, contains a population of six hundred 
thousand, equal to the population of Massachusetts, a State 
of two hundred years’ duration. In age she is an infant; 
in strength and resources a giant. Her appearance indi¬ 
cates the full vigor of maturity, while, measured by her 
years, she is yet in the cradle. 

Although I reside in a part of the country most remote 
from you, although I have seen you spring into existence 
and advance with rapid strides in the march of prosperity 
and power, until your population has equalled that of my 
own State, which you far surpass in fertility of soil and 
mildness of climate; yet these things have excited in me 
no feelings of dislike, or jealousy, or envy. On the con¬ 
trary, I have witnessed them with pride and pleasure, when 
I saw in them the growth of a member of our common 
country; and with feelings warmer than pride, when I 
recollect that there are those among you who are bone of 
my bone and flesh of my flesh, who inherit my name and 
share my blood. When they came to me for my advice, 
before leaving their hearths and homes, I did not oppose 
their desires or suggest difficulties in their paths. I told 
them, “ Go and join your destinies with those hardy pio- 
22 * 


258 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


neers of the West, share their hardships, and partake their 
fortunes; go, and God speed you; only carry with you 
your own good principles, and whether the sun rises on 
you, or sets on you, let it warm American hearts in your 
bosoms.” 

Though, as I observed, I live in a part of the country 
most remote from you, fellow-citizens, I have been no inat¬ 
tentive observer of your history and progress. I have heard 
of the reports made in your legislature, and the acts passed 
in pursuance thereof. I have traced on the map of your 
State the routes marked out for extensive turnpikes, rail¬ 
roads, and canals. I have read with pleasure the acts pro¬ 
viding for their establishment and completion. I do not 
pretend to offer you my advice; it would perhaps be pre¬ 
sumptuous ; but you will permit me to say, that, as far as I 
have examined them, they are conceived in wisdom, and 
evince great political skill and foresight. You have com¬ 
menced at the right point. To open the means of com¬ 
munication, by which man may, when he wishes, see the face 
of his friend, should be the first work of every government. 
We may theorize and speculate about it as we please — we 
may understand all the metaphysics of politics; but if men 
are confined to the n'arrow spot they inhabit, because they 
have not the means of travelling when they please, they 
must go back to a state of barbarism. Social intercourse 
is the corner stone of good government. The nation that 
provides no means for the improvement of its communica¬ 
tions, has not taken the first step in civilization. Go on, 
then, as you have begun ; prosecute your works with energy 
and perseverance; be not daunted by imaginary difficulties, 
be not deterred by exaggerated calculations of their cost. 
Go on ; open your wilderness to the sun; turn up the soil ; 
and in the wide-spread and highly-cultivated fields, the 
smiling villages, and the busy towns that will spring up from 
the bosom of the desert, you will reap a rich reward for 
your investment and industry. 

Another of the paramount objects of government, to 
which I rejoice to see that you have turned your attention, is 
education. I speak not of college education, nor of academy 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


259 


education, though they are of great importance; I speak 
of free school education, common school education. 

Among the luminaries in the sky of New England, the 
burning lights which throw intelligence and happiness on 
her people, the first and most brilliant is her system of com¬ 
mon schools. I congratulate myself that my first speech on 
entering public life was in their behalf. Education, to ac¬ 
complish the ends of good government, should be universally 
diffused. Open the doors of the school house to all the 
children in the land. Let no man have the excuse of pov¬ 
erty for not educating his own offspring. Place the means 
of education within his reach, and if they remain in igno¬ 
rance, be it his own reproach. If one object of the expendi¬ 
ture of your revenue be protection against crime, you could 
not devise a better or cheaper means of obtaining it. Other 
nations spend their money in providing means for its detec¬ 
tion and punishment, but it is the principle of our govern¬ 
ment to provide for its never occurring. The one acts by 
coercion , the other by prevention. On the diffusion of educa¬ 
tion among the people rest the preservation and perpetua¬ 
tion of our free institutions. I apprehend no danger to our 
country from a foreign foe. The prospect of* a war with 
any powerful nation is too remote to be a matter of calcu¬ 
lation. Besides, there is no nation on earth powerful 
enough to accomplish our overthrow. Our destruction, 
should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From 
the inattention of the people to the concerns of their govern¬ 
ment, from their carelessness and negligence, I must confess 
that I do apprehend some danger. I fear that they may place 
too implicit a confidence in their public servants, and fail 
properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they 
may be made the dupes of designing men, and become the 
instruments of their own undoing. Make them intelligent, 
and they will be vigilant; give them the means of detecting 
the wrong, and they will apply the remedy. 

The gentleman who has just addressed me in such flat¬ 
tering, but unmerited terms, has been pleased to make kind 
mention of my devotion to the Constitution, and my humble 
efforts in its support. I claim no merit on that account. 


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CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


It results from my sense of its surpassing excellences, which 
must strike every man who attentively and impartially ex¬ 
amines it. I regard it as the work of the purest patriots 
and wisest statesmen that ever existed, aided by the smiles 
of a benignant Providence ; for when we regard it as a 
system of government growing out of the discordant opin¬ 
ions and conflicting interests of thirteen independent States, 
it almost appears a Divine interposition in our behalf. I 
have always, with the utmost zeal and the moderate abilities 
I possess, striven to prevent its infraction in the slightest 
particular. I believed, if that bond of union were broken, 
we should never again be a united people. Where, among 
all the political thinkers, the constitution makers and the 
constitution menders of the day, could we find a man to 
make us another ? Who would even venture to propose a 
reunion ? Where would be the starting point, and what 
the plan ? I do not expect miracles to follow each other. 
No plan could be proposed that would be adopted ; the 
hand that destroys the Constitution rends our Union asunder 
for ever. 

My friend has been pleased to remember, in his address, 
my humble support of the constitutional right of Congress 
to improve the navigation of our great internal rivers, and 
to construct roads through the different States. It is well 
known that few persons entertain stronger opinions on this 
subject than myself. Believing that the great object of the 
Union is to secure the general safety and promote the gen¬ 
eral welfare, and that the Constitution was designed to point 
out the means of accomplishing these ends, I have always 
been in favor of such measures as I deemed for the general 
benefit, under the restrictions and limitations prescribed by 
the Constitution itself. I supported them with my voice, 
and my vote, not because they were for the benefit of the 
West, but because they were for the benefit of the whole 
country. That they are local in their advantages, as well 
as in their construction, is an objection that has been and will 
be urged against every measure of the kind. In a country 
so widely extended as ours, so diversified in its interests 
and in the character of its people, it is impossible that the 


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261 


operation of any measure should affect all alike. Each 
has its own peculiar interest, whose advancement it seeks; 
we have the sea coast, and you the noble river that flows at 
your feet. So it must ever be. Go to the smallest govern¬ 
ment in the world, the republic of San Marino, in Italy, 
possessing a territory of but ten miles square, and you will 
find its citizens, separated but by a few miles, having some 
interests which, on account of local situation, are separate 
and distinct. There is not on the face of the earth a plain, 
five miles in extent, whose inhabitants are all the same in 
their pursuits and pleasures. Some will live on a creek, 
others near u hill, which, when any measure is proposed 
for the general benefit, will give rise to jarring claims and 
opposing interests. In such cases, it has always appeared 
to me that the point to be examined was, whether the prin¬ 
ciple was general. If the principle were general, although 
the application might be partial, I cheerfully and zealously 
gave it my support. When an objection has been made to 
an appropriation for clearing the snags out of the Ohio River, 
I have answered it with the question, “ Would you not vote 
for an appropriation to clear the Atlantic Ocean of snags, 
were the navigation of your coast thus obstructed ? The 
people of the West contribute their portion of the revenue 
to fortify your sea coast, and erect piers, and harbors, and 
lighthouses, from which they derive a remote benefit; and 
why not contribute yours to improve the navigation of a. 
river whose commerce enriches the whole country 1 ” 

In conclusion, my fellow-citizens, I return you my thanks, 
for the patience and attention with which you have listened 
to me, and pray the beneficent Giver of all good, that he 
may keep you under the shadow of his wing, and continue 
to bless you with peace and prosperity. 


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THE CURRENCY. 

Speech delivered in the Senate of the United States, on the 28f/i of September, 1837, on the 
Currency, and on the new Plan for collecting and keeping the Public Moneys. 

Mr. President, — I am opposed to the doctrines of the 
message, to the bill, and to the amendment of the member 
from South Carolina. 

The government of the United States completed the forty- 
eighth year of its existence, under the present Constitution, 
on the third day of March last. During this whole period, 
it has felt itself bound to take proper care of the currency 
of the country; and no administration has admitted this ob¬ 
ligation more clearly or more frequently than the last. For 
the fulfilment of this acknowledged duty, as well as to ac¬ 
complish other useful purposes, a national bank has been 
maintained for forty out of these forty-eight years. Two 
institutions of this kind have been created by law; one 
commencing in 1791, and being limited to twenty years, ex¬ 
piring in 1811; the other commencing in 1816, with a like 
term of duration, and ending, therefore, in 1836. Both 
these institutions, each in its time, accomplished their pur¬ 
pose, so far as currency was concerned, to the general satis¬ 
faction of the country. 

Two distinct classes of duties had been performed, in 
times past, by the Bank of the United States; one more im¬ 
mediately to the government, the other to the community. 
The first was the safe keeping and the transfer, when re¬ 
quired, of the public moneys; the other, the supplying of a 
sound and convenient paper currency, of equal credit all 
over the country, and every where equivalent to specie, and 
the giving of most important facilities to the operations 
of exchange. These objects were highly important, and 
their perfect accomplishment by the “ experiment ” had been 
promised, from the first. The State banks, it was declared, 
could perform all these duties, and should perform them. 
But the “ experiment ” came to a dishonored end in the 
early part of last May. The deposit banks, with the others, 
stopped payment. They could not render back the deposits ; 
and so far from being able to furnish a general currency, or 


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to assist exchanges, (purposes, indeed, which they never had 
fulfilled with any success,) their paper became immediately 
depreciated, even in its local circulation. What course, 
then, was the administration now to adopt ? Why, Sir, it 
is plain that it had but one alternative. It must either return 
to the former practice of the government, take the currency 
into its own hands, and maintain it, as well as provide for 
the safe keeping of the public money by some institution of 
its own; or else, adopting some new mode of merely keep¬ 
ing the public money, it must abandon all further care over 
currency and exchange. One of these courses became in¬ 
evitable. The administration had no other choice. The 
State banks could be no longer tried, with the opinion which 
the administration now entertained of them ; and how else 
could any thing be done to maintain the currency ? In no 
way, but by the establishment of a national institution. 

There was no escape from this dilemma. One course 
was, to go back to that which the party had so much con¬ 
demned ; the other, to give up the whole duty, and leave the 
currency to its fate. Between these two, the administration 
found itself absolutely obliged to decide ; and it has decided, 
and decided boldly. It has decided to surrender the duty, 
and abandon the Constitution. That decision is before us, 
in the message, and in the measures now under considera¬ 
tion. The choice has been made; and that choice, in my 
opinion, raises a question of the utmost importance to the 
people of this country, both for the present and all future 
time. That question is, Whether Congress has, or 

OUGHT TO HAVE, ANY DUTY TO PERFORM IN RELATION TO 
THE CURRENCY OF THE COUNTRY, BEYOND THE MERE 
REGULATION OF THE GOLD AND SILVER COIN. 

Mr. President, the honorable member from South Caro¬ 
lina remarked, the other day, with great frankness and good 
humor, that, in the political classifications of the times, he 
desired to be considered as nothing but an honest nullifier. 
That, he said, was his character. I believe, Sir, the country 
will readily concede that character to the honorable gentle¬ 
man. For one, certainly, I am willing to say that 1 believe 
him a very honest and a very sincere nullifier, using the term 


264 


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in the same sense in which he used it himself, and in which 
he meant to apply it to himself. And I am very much afraid, 
Sir, that (whatever he may think of it himself) it has been 
under the influence of those sentiments which belong to his 
character as a nullifier, that he has so readily and so zeal¬ 
ously embraced the doctrines of the President’s message. 
In my opinion, the message, the bill before us, and the hon¬ 
orable member’s amendment form, together, a system, a code 
of practical politics, the direct tendency of which is to nullify 
and expunge, or perhaps, more correctly speaking, by a 
united and mixed process of nullification and expunging, to 
abolish, a highly important and useful power of the govern¬ 
ment. It strikes down the principle upon which the govern¬ 
ment has been administered in regard to the subject of the 
currency, through its whole history ; and it seeks to obliter¬ 
ate, or to draw black lines around, that part of the Consti¬ 
tution on which this principle of administration has rested. 
The system proposed, in my opinion, is not only anti-com¬ 
mercial, but anti-constitutional also, and anti-union, in a high 
degree. 

You will say, Sir, that this is a strong way of stating an 
opinion. It is so. I mean to state the opinion in the 
strongest manner. I do not wish, indeed, at every turn, to 
say, of measures which I oppose, that they either violate or 
surrender the Constitution. But when in all soberness and 
candor I do so think, in all soberness and candor I must so 
speak ; and whether the opinion which I have now expressed 
be true, let the sequel decide. 

Now, Sir, my present purpose is chiefly to maintain two 
propositions : — 

I. That it is the constitutional duty of this government 
to see that a proper currency, suitable to the circumstances 
of the times, and to the wants of trade and business, as well 
as to the payment of debts due to government, be maintained 
and preserved ; a currency of general credit, and capable 
of aiding the operations of exchange, so far as those opera¬ 
tions may be conducted by means of the circulating medium ; 
and that there are duties, therefore, devolving on Congress, 
in relation to currency, beyond the mere regulation of the 
gold and silver coins. 


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265 


II. That the message, the bill, and the proposed amend¬ 
ment, all, in effect, deny any such duty, disclaim all such 
power, and confine the constitutional obligation of govern¬ 
ment to the mere regulation of the coin, and the care of its 
own revenues. 

Before entering into the discussion of the grounds of this 
proposition, however, allow me, Sir, a few words by way of 
preliminary explanation. In the first place, 1 wish it to be 
observed, that I am now contending only for the general 
principle, and not insisting either on the constitutionality or 
expediency of any particular means or any particular agent. 
I am not saying by what instrument or agent Congress 
ought to perform this duty ; I only say it is a duty, which, 
in some mode and by some means, Congress is bound to 
perform. In the next place, let it be remembered that I 
carry the absolute duty of government in regard to exchange 
no further than the operations of exchange may be performed 
by currency. No doubt, Sir, a proper institution, estab¬ 
lished by government, might, as heretofore, give other facili¬ 
ties to exchange, of great importance and to a very great 
extent. But 1 intend, on this occasion, to keep clearly 
within the Constitution, and to assign no duty to Congress 
not plainly enjoined by the provisions of that instrument, as 
fuirly interpreted, and as heretofore understood. 

The President says, it is not the province of government 
to aid individuals in the transfer of their funds otherwise 
than by the use of the post office ; and that it might as justly 
be called on to provide for the transportation of their mer¬ 
chandise. Now, I beg leave to say, Sir, with all respect 
and deference, that funds are transferred from individual to 
individual usually for the direct purpose of the payment and 
receipt of debts ; that payment and receipt are duties of 
currency; that, in my opinion, currency is a thing which 
government is bound to provide for and superintend ; that 
the case, therefore, has not the slightest resemblance to the 
transportation of merchandise, because the transportation of 
merchandise is carried on by ships and boats, by carts and 
wagons, and not by the use of currency, or any thing else 
over which government has usually exclusive control. These 
23 


260 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


things individuals can provide for themselves. But the trans¬ 
fer of funds is done by credit, and must be so done ; and 
some proper medium for this transfer it is the duty of gov¬ 
ernment to provide, because it belongs to currency, to 
money, and is therefore beyond the power of individuals. 

The nature of exchange, Sir, is well understood by per¬ 
sons engaged in commerce ; but as its operations are a little 
out of the sight of other classes of the community, although 
they have all a deep and permanent interest in the subject, I 
may be pardoned for a word or two of general explanation. 
I speak of domestic exchanges only. We mean, then, by 
exchange, this same transfer of funds. We mean the 
making of payment in a distant place, or the receiving of 
payment from a distant place, by some mode of paper 
credits. If done by draft, order, or bill of exchange, that is 
one form; if done by the transmission of bank notes, 
through the post office, or otherwise, that is another form. 
In each, credit is used ; in the first, the credit of the parties 
whose names are on the bill or draft; in the last, the credit 
of the bank. Every man, Sir, who looks over this vast 
country, and contemplates the commercial connection of its 
various parts, must see the great importance that this ex¬ 
change should be cheap and easy. To the producer and to 
the consumer, to the manufacturer and the planter, to the 
merchant, to all, in all classes, this is a matter of moment. 
We may see an instance in the common articles of manu¬ 
facture produced in the North and sent to the South and 
West for sale and consumption. Hats, shoes, furniture, car¬ 
riages, domestic hardware, and various other articles, the 
produce of those manufactures, and of employments carried 
on without the aid of large capital, constitute a large part of 
this trade, as well as the fabrics of cotton and wool. Now, 
a state of exchange which shall enable the producers to re¬ 
ceive payment regularly, and without loss, is indispensable to 
any useful prosecution of this intercourse. Derangement 
of currency and exchange is ruinous. The notes of local 
banks will not answer the purpose of remittance; and if 
bills of exchange cannot be had, or can be had only at a 
high rate, how is payment to be received, or to be received 


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267 


without great loss 1 This evil was severely felt, even before 
the suspension of specie payment by the banks; and it will 
always he felt, more or less, till there is a currency of gen¬ 
eral credit and circulation through the country. 

The power over the coinage is not the strongest, nor the 
broadest, ground on which to place the duty of Congress. 
There is another power granted to Congress, which seems 
to me to apply to this case directly and irresistibly, and that 
is the commercial power. The Constitution declares that 
Congress shall have power to regulate commerce, not only 
with foreign nations, but between the States. This is a full 
and complete grant, and must include authority over every 
thing which is part of commerce, or essential to commerce. 
And is not money essential to commerce ? No man in his 
senses can deny that; and it is equally clear, that whatever 
paper is put forth, with intent to circulate as currency, or to 
be used as money, immediately affects commerce. Bank 
notes, in a strict and technical sense, are not, indeed, money ; 
but in a general sense, and often in a legal sense, they are 
money. They are substantially money, because they per¬ 
form the functions of money. They are not like bills of 
exchange or common promissory notes, mere proofs or evi¬ 
dences of debt, but are treated as money, in the general 
transactions of society. If receipts be given for them, they 
are given as for money. They pass under a legacy, or other 
form of gift, as money. And this character of bank notes 
was as well known and understood at the time of the adop¬ 
tion of the Constitution as it is now. The law, both of 
England and America, regarded them as money, in the sense 
above expressed. If Congress, then, has power to regulate 
commerce, it must have a control over that money, what¬ 
ever it may be, by which commerce is actually carried on. 
Whether that money be coin or paper, or however it has ac¬ 
quired the character of money or currency, if, in fact, it has 
become an actual agent or instrument in the performance 
of commercial transactions, it necessarily thereby becomes 
subject to the regulation and control of Congress. The 
regulation of money is not so much an inference from the 
commercial power conferred on Congress, as it is a part of 


•263 


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it. Money is one of the things, without which, in modern 
times, we can form no practical idea of commerce. It is 
embraced, therefore, necessarily, in the terms of the Consti¬ 
tution. 

But, Sir, as will be seen by the proposition which I have 
stated, I go further; I insist that the duty of Congress is 
commensurate with its power; that it has authority not only 
to regulate and control that which others may put forth as 
money and currency, but that it has the power, and is bound 
to perform the duty, of seeing that there is established and 
maintained, at all times, a currency of general credit, equiv¬ 
alent in value to specie, adapted to the wants of commerce 
and the business of the people, and suited to the existing 
circumstances of the country. Such a currency is an instru¬ 
ment of the first necessity to commerce, according to the 
commercial system of the present age ; and without it com¬ 
merce cannot be conducted to full advantage. It is in the 
power of Congress to furnish it, and it is in the power of 
nobody else. The States cannot supply it. That resource 
has often been tried, and has always failed. I am no enemy 
to the State banks ; they may be very useful in their spheres ; 
but you can no more cause them to perform the duties of a 
national institution, than you can turn a satellite into a pri¬ 
mary orb. They cannot maintain a currency of equal credit 
all over the country. It might be tried, Sir, in your State 
of Kentucky, or our State of Massachusetts. We may erect 
banks on all the securities which the wit of man can devise ; 
we may have capital, we may have funds, we may have 
bonds and mortgages, we may add the faith of the State, we 
may pile Pelion upon Ossa; they will be State institutions 
after all, and will not be able to support a national circula¬ 
tion. This is inherent in the nature of things, and in the 
sentiments of men. It is in vain to argue that it ought not 
to be so, or to contend that one bank may be as safe as 
another. Experience proves that it is so, and we may be 
assured it will remain so. 

Sir, mine is not the ruthless hand that shall strike at the 
State banks, nor mine the tongue that shall causelessly up¬ 
braid them with treachery or perfidy. I admit their lawful 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


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existence ; I admit their utility in the circle to which they 
properly belong. I only say, they cannot perform a national 
part in the operations of commerce. A general and uni¬ 
versally accredited currency, therefore, is an instrument of 
commerce, which is necessary to the enjoyment of its just 
advantages, or, in other words, which is essential to its bene¬ 
ficial regulation. Congress has power to establish it, and no 
other power can establish it; and therefore Congress is bound 
to exercise its own power. It is an absurdity, on the very 
face of the proposition, to allege that Congress shall regu¬ 
late commerce, but shall, nevertheless, abandon to others the 
duty of maintaining and regulating its essential means and 
instruments. We have in actual use a mixed currency ; the 
coin circulating under the authority of Congress, the paper 
under the authority of the States. But this paper, though 
it fills so great a portion of all the channels of circulation, 
is not of general and universal credit; it is made up of 
various local currencies, none of which has the same credit, 
or the same value, in all parts of the country; and there¬ 
fore these local currencies answer but very loosely and im¬ 
perfectly the purposes of general currency and of remit¬ 
tance. Now, is it to be contended that there is no remedy 
for this ? Are we to agree, that the Constitution, with all 
its care, circumspection, and wisdom, has, nevertheless, left 
this great interest unprovided for ? Is our commercial sys¬ 
tem so lame and impotent 1 Are our constitutional provis¬ 
ions and our political institutions so radically defective ? I 
think not, Sir. They do not deserve this reproach; and I 
think it may now be easily shown, that, under all adminis¬ 
trations, from General Washington’s time down to the 3d 
of March last, the govefnment has felt and acknowledged 
its obligation, in regard to the currency, to the full extent in 
which I have stated it, and has constantly endeavored to 
fulfil that obligation. 

Is not this clear proof, that one object in establishing the 
bank, in the opinion of the Secretary, was the creation of a 
currency which should have general credit throughout the 
country, and, by means of such credit, should become a 
convenient and expeditious medium of exchange ? Cur- 

9‘i * 


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rency, Sir, currency and exchange, were then, beyond all 
doubt, important objects, in the opinion of the proposer of 
the measure, to be accomplished by the institution. 

And now, Sir, let me ask, what was it that gave this suc¬ 
cess to the new institution 1 Its capital was small, and gov¬ 
ernment had no participation in its direction ; it was com¬ 
mitted entirely to individual management and control. 

Its notes, it is true, were made receivable in payments to 
government; that was one advantage. It had a solid capital, 
and its paper was at all times convertible into gold and silver, at 
the will and pleasure of the holder ; that w 7 as another and a 
most important ground of its prosperity. But, Sir, there was 
something more than all this. There was something which 
touched men’s sentiments, as well as their understandings. 
There was a cause which carried the credit of the new-born 
bank, as on the wings of the wind, to every quarter and every 
extremity of the country. There was a charm, which created 
trust, and faith, and reliance, not only in the great marts of 
commerce, but in every corner into which money, in any 
form, could penetrate. That cause was its nationality of 
character. It had the broad seal of the Union to its char¬ 
ter. It was the institution of the nation, established by 
that new government which the people already loved ; and 
it was known to be designed to revive and foster that com- 
merce which had so long been prostrate and lifeless. 

Tiie history of the late Bank of the United States mani¬ 
fests, as clearly as that of the first, that the government, in 
creating it, was acting, avowedly, in execution of its duty in 
regard to the currency. Fiscal aid, except so far as the fur¬ 
nishing of a currency was concerned, was hardly thought of. 
its bills were made receivable for revenue, indeed ; but that 
provision, as far as it went, was obviously a provision for cur¬ 
rency. Currency for the revenue, however, was not the lead¬ 
ing object. The leading object was currency for the country. 

1 maintain, Sir, that the people of this country are en¬ 
titled, at the hand of this government, to a sound, safe, and 
uniform currency. If they agree with me, they will them¬ 
selves say so. They will say, “ It is our right; we have 
enjoyed it forty years; it is practicable, it is necessary to 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


271 


our prosperity, it is the duty of government to furnish 
it; we ought to have it, we can have it, and we will 
have it.” 

The language of the administration, on the other hand, 
is. “ Good masters, you are mistaken. You have no such 
right. You are entitled to no such thing from us. The 
Constitution has been misunderstood. We have suddenly 
found out its true meaning. A new light has flashed upon 
us. It is no business of ours to furnish a national currency. 
You cannot have it, and you will not get it.” 

Be it remembered, Sir, that my proposition simply is, 
that it is a part of the power and duty of Congress to main¬ 
tain a general currency, suitable to the state of things exist¬ 
ing among us, for the use of commerce and the people. 
Now, Sir, vyhat says Mr. Madison ? I read from his mes¬ 
sage of December, 1816. 

“ Upon this general view of the subject, it is obvious that 
there is only wanting to the fiscal prosperity of the govern¬ 
ment the restoration of a uniform medium of exchange. 
The resources and the faith of the nation, displayed in the 
system which Congress has established, insure respect and 
confidence both at home and abroad. The local accumula¬ 
tions of the revenue have already enabled the treasury to 
meet the public engagements in the local currency of most 
of the States; and it is expected that the same cause will 
produce the same effect throughout the Union. But, for the 
interests of the community at large, as well as for the pur¬ 
poses of the treasury, it is essential that the nation should 
possess a currency of equal value, credit, and use, wherever 
it may circulate. The Constitution has intrusted Congress, 
exclusively, with the power of creating and regulating a cur¬ 
rency of that description; and the measures which were 
taken during the last session, in execution of the power, 
give every promise of success. The Bank of the United 
States has been organized under auspices the most favora- * 
ble, and cannot fail to be an important auxiliary to those 
measures.” 

Mr. President, this power over the currency for which I 
am contending is in the Constitution; the authority of Con- 


272 


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gress over commerce would be radically deficient without it; 
the power has been admitted, acknowledged, and exercised. 
To deny that this power is in the Constitution, is to rewrite 
the Constitution, to reconstruct it, to take it away, and give 
us a substitute. To deny that the power has been acknowl¬ 
edged, and exercised, is to contradict history, and to reverse 
facts. 


REPLY TO MR. CALHOUN. 

Speech delivered in the Senate of the United States, on the 22 d of March, 1838, in Answer 
to Mr. Calhoun. 

Mr. President, — I came rather late to the Senate this 
morning, and, happening to meet a friend on the Avenue, I 
was admonished to hasten my steps, as “ the war was to be 
carried into Africa,” and I was expected to be annihilated. I 
lost no time in following the advice, Sir, since it would be 
awkward for one to be annihilated without knowing any 
thing about it. 

Well, Sir, the war has been carried into Africa. The 
honorable member has made an expedition into regions as 
remote from the subject of this debate as the orb of Jupiter 
from that of our earth. He has spoken of the tariff, of 
slavery, and of the late war. Of all this I do not complain. 
On the contrary, if it be his pleasure to allude to all or any 
of these topics, for any purpose whatever, I am ready at all 
times to hear him. 

Sir, this carrying the war into Africa, which has become 
so common a phrase among us, is, indeed, imitating a great 
example; but it is an example which is not always followed 
with success. In the first place, every man, though he be a 
man of talent and genius, is not a Scipio; and in the next 
place, as I recollect this part of Roman and Carthaginian 
history, —the gentleman may be more accurate, but as I rec¬ 
ollect it, — when Scipio resolved upon carrying the war into 
Africa, Hannibal was not at home. Now, Sir, I am very 
little like Hannibal, but I am at home; and when Scipio 
Africanus South-Caroliniensis brings the war into my territo¬ 
ries, I shall not leave their defence to Asdrubal, nor Syphax, 



SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


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nor any body else. I meet him on the shore, at his landing, 
and propose but one contest. 

“ Concurritur; horae 

Momento cita mors venit, aut victoria laeta.” 

Mr. President, I had made up my mind that, if the hon¬ 
orable gentleman should confine himself to a reply in the 
ordinary way, I would not say another syllable. But he has 
not done so. He has gone off into topics quite remote 
from all connection with revenue, commerce, finance, or 
sub-treasuries, and invites to a discussion which, however 
uninteresting to the public at the present moment, is too per¬ 
sonal to be declined by me. 

He says, Sir, that I undertook to compare my political 
character and conduct with his. Far from it. I attempted 
no such thing. I compared the gentleman’s political opin¬ 
ions at different times with one another, and expressed de¬ 
cided opposition to those which he now holds. And I did, 
certainly, advert to the general tone and drift of the gentle¬ 
man’s sentiments and expressions for some years past, in 
their bearing on the Union, with such remarks as I thought 
they deserved; but I instituted no comparison between him 
and myself. He may institute one if he pleases, and when 
he pleases. Seeking nothing of this kind, I avoid nothing. 
Let it be remembered, that the gentleman began the debate, 
by attempting to exhibit a contrast between the present opin¬ 
ions and conduct of my friends and myself, and our recent 
opinions and conduct. Here is the first charge of inconsist¬ 
ency ; let the public judge whether he has made it good. 
He says, Sir, that on several questions I have taken different 
sides, at different times; let him show it. If he shows any 
change of opinion, I shall be called on to give a reason, and 
to account for it. I leave it to the country to say whether, 
as yet, he has shown any such thing. 

But, Sir, before attempting that, he has something else to 
say. He had prepared, it seems, to draw comparisons him¬ 
self. He had intended to say something, if time had al¬ 
lowed, upon our respective opinions and conduct in regard 
to the war. If time had allowed ! Sir, time does allow, 


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time must allow. A general remark of that kind ought not 
to be, cannot be, left to produce its effect, when that effect 
is obviously intended to be unfavorable. Why did the gen¬ 
tleman allude to my votes or my opinions respecting the war 
at all, unless he had something to say 1 Does he wish to 
leave an undefined impression that something was done, or 
something said, by me, not now capable of defence or justi¬ 
fication 1 something not reconcilable with true patriotism 1 
He means that, or nothing. And now, Sir, let him bring the 
matter forth ; let him take the responsibility of the accusa¬ 
tion ; let him state his facts. I am here to answer; I am 
here, this day, to answer. Now is the time, and now the 
hour. I think we read, Sir, that one of the good spirits 
would not bring against the Arch-enemy of mankind a rail¬ 
ing accusation; and what is railing but general reproach, an 
imputation without fact, time, or circumstance 1 Sir, I call 
for particulars. The gentleman knows my whole conduct 
well; indeed, the journals show it all, from the moment I 
came into Congress till the peace. If I have done, then, 
Sir, any thing unpatriotic, any thing which, as far as love to 
country goes, will not bear comparison with his or any man’s 
conduct, let it now be stated. Give me the fact, the time, 
the manner. He speaks of the war ; that which we call 
the late war, though it is now twenty-five years since it ter¬ 
minated. He would leave an impression that I opposed it. 
How 1 I was not in Congress when war was declared, nor 
in public life any where. I was pursuing my profession, 
keeping company with judges and jurors, and plaintiffs and 
defendants. If I had been in Congress, and had enjoyed 
the benefit of hearing the honorable gentleman’s speeches, 
for aught I can say, I might have concurred with him. But 
I was not in public life. I never had been, for a single 
hour; and was in no situation, therefore, to oppose or to 
support the declaration of war. I am speaking to the fact, 
Sir ; and if the gentleman has any fact, let us know it. 

Well, Sir, I came into Congress during the war. I found 
it waged, and raging. And what did I do here to oppose it 1 
Look to the journals. Let the honorable gentleman tax his 
memory. Bring up any thing, if there be any thing to bring 


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275 


up, not showing error of opinion, but showing want of 
loyalty or fidelity to the country. I did not agree to all that 
was proposed, nor did the honorable member. I did not 
approve of every measure, nor did he. The war had been 
preceded by the restrictive system and the embargo. As a 
private individual, 1 certainly did not think well of these 
measures. It appeared to me that the embargo annoyed 
ourselves as much as our enemies, while it destroyed the 
business, and cramped the spirits, of the people. In this 
opinion I may have been right or wrong, but the gentleman 
was himself of the same opinion. He told us the other day, 
as a proof of his independence of party on great questions, 
that he differed with his friends on the subject of the em¬ 
bargo. He was decidedly and unalterably opposed to it. 
It furnishes in his judgment, therefore, no imputation either 
on my patriotism, or on the soundness of my political opinions, 
that I was opposed to it also. I mean opposed in opinion ; 
for I was not in Congress, and had nothing to do with the act 
creating the embargo. And as to opposition to measures for 
carrying on the war, after I came into Congress, I again say, 
let the gentleman specify; let him lay his finger on any 
thing calling for an answer, and he shall have an answer. 

Mr. President, you were yourself in the House during a 
considerable part of this time. The honorable gentleman 
may make a witness of you. He may make a wit¬ 
ness of any body else. He may be his own witness. 
Give us but some fact, some charge, something capable 
in itself either of being proved or disproved. Prove any 
thing, state any thing, not consistent with honorable and 
patriotic conduct, and I am ready to answer it. Sir, I am 
glad this subject has been alluded to in a manner which justi¬ 
fies me in taking public notice of it; because I am well 
aware that, for ten years past, infinite pains has been taken 
to find something, in the range of these topics, which might 
create prejudice against me in the country. The journals 
have all been pored over, and the reports ransacked, and 
scraps of paragraphs and half sentences have been collected, 
fraudulently put together, and then made to flare out as if 
there had been some discovery. But all this failed. The 


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next resort was to supposed correspondence. My letters 
were sought for, to learn if, in the confidence of private 
friendship, I had ever said any thing which an enemy could 
make use of. With this view, the vicinity of my former 
residence has been searched, as with a lighted candle. New 
Hampshire has been explored, from the mouth of the Mer¬ 
rimack to the White Hills. In one instance a gentleman 
had left the State, gone five hundred miles off, and died. 
His papers were examined ; a letter was found, and I have 
understood it was brought to Washington ; a conclave was 
held to consider it, and the result was, that, If there was 
nothing else against Mr. Webster, the matter had better be 
let alone. Sir, I hope to make every body of that opinion 
who brings against me a charge of want of patriotism. 
Errors of opinion can be found, doubtless, on many sub¬ 
jects ; but as conduct flows from the feelings which animate 
the heart, I know that no act of my life has had its origin 
in the want of ardent love of country. 

Sir, when I came to Congress, I found the honorable gen¬ 
tleman a leading member of the House of Representatives. 
Well, Sir, in what did we differ ? One of the first meas¬ 
ures of magnitude, after I came here, was Mr. Dallas’s * 
proposition for a bank. It was a war measure. It was 
urged as being absolutely necessary to enable government to 
carry on the war. Government wanted revenue; such a 
bank, it was hoped, would furnish it; and on that account it 
was most warmly pressed and urged on Congress. You re¬ 
member all this, Mr. President. You remember how much 
some persons supposed the success of the war and the sal¬ 
vation of the country depended on carrying that measure. 
Yet the honorable member from South Carolina opposed 
this bill. He now takes to himself a good deal of merit, 
none too much, but still a good deal of merit, for having 
defeated it. Well, Sir, I agreed with him. It was a mere 
paper bank; a machine for fabricating irredeemable paper. 
It was a new form for paper money; and instead of bene¬ 
fiting the country, I thought it would plunge it deeper and 


* The Secretary of the Treasury. 


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277 


deeper in difficulty. I made a speech on the subject; it 
has often been quoted. There it is; let whoever pleases 
read and examine it. I am not proud of it for any ability 
it exhibits; on the other hand, I am not ashamed of it for 
the spirit which it manifests. But, Sir, I say again that the 
gentleman himself took the lead against this measure, this 
darling measure of the administration. I followed him; if 
I was seduced into error, or into unjustifiable opposition, 
there sits my seducer. 

What, Sir, were other leading sentiments or leading 
measures of that day ? On what other subjects did men 
differ 1 The gentleman has adverted to one, and that a 
most important one; I mean the navy. He says, and says 
truly, that at the commencement of the war the navy was 
unpopular. It was unpopular with his friends, who then 
controlled the politics of the country. But he says he dif¬ 
fered with his friends ; in this respect he resisted party influ¬ 
ence and party connection, and was the friend and advocate 
of the navy. Sir, I commend him for it. He showed his 
wisdom. That gallant little navy soon fought itself into 
favor, and showed that no man who had placed reliance on 
it had been disappointed. 

Well, Sir, in all this I was exactly of the opinion of the 
honorable gentleman. 

Sir, I do not know when my opinion of the importance 
of a naval force to the United States had its origin. I can 
give no date to my present sentiments on this subject, be¬ 
cause I never entertained different sentiments. I remem¬ 
ber, Sir, that immediately after coming into my profession, 
at a period when the navy was most unpopular, when it was 
called by all sorts of hard names and designated by many 
coarse epithets, on one of those occasions on which young 
men address their neighbors, I ventured to put forth a boy’s 
hand in defence of the navy. I insisted on its importance, 
its adaptation to our circumstances and to our national char¬ 
acter, and its indispensable necessity, if we intended to 
maintain and extend our commerce. These opinions and 
sentiments I brought into Congress; and the first time in 
w'hich I presumed to speak on the topics of the day, I 
24 


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attempted to urge on the House a greater attention to the 
naval service. There were divers modes of prosecuting the 
war. On these modes, or on the degree of attention and 
expense which should be bestowed on each, different men 
held different opinions. I confess I looked with most hope 
to the results of naval warfare, and therefore I invoked gov¬ 
ernment to invigorate and strengthen that arm of the national 
defence. I invoked it to seek its enemy upon the seas, to 
go where every auspicious indication pointed, and where the 
whole heart and soul of the country would go with it. 

And now, Sir, in regard to the tariff. That is a long 
chapter, but I am quite ready to go over it with the honor¬ 
able member. 

He charges me with inconsistency. That may depend on 
deciding what inconsistency is, in respect to such subjects, 
and how it is to be proved. I will state the facts, for I have 
them in my mind somewhat more fully than the honorable 
member has himself presented them. Let us begin at the 
beginning. In 1816 I voted against the tariff law which 
then passed. In 1824 I again voted against the tariff law 
which was then proposed, and which passed. A majority 
of New England votes, in 1824, were against the tariff sys¬ 
tem. The bill received but one vote from Massachusetts; 
but it passed. The policy was established. New England 
acquiesced in it; conformed her business and pursuits to it; 
embarked her capital, and employed her labor, in manufac¬ 
tures ; and I certainly admit that, from that time, I have 
felt bound to support interests thus called into being, and 
into importance, by the settled policy of the government. I 
have stated this often here, and often elsewhere. The 
ground is defensible, and I maintain it. 

Well, Sir, and now what does the gentleman make out 
against me in relation to the tariff? What laurels does he 
gather in this part of Africa ? I opposed the policy of the 
tariff, until it had become the settled and established policy 
of the country. I have never questioned the constitutional 
power of Congress to grant protection, except so far as the 
remark made in Faneuil Hall goes, which remark respects 
only the length to which protection might properly be car- 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


279 


ried, so far as the power is derived from the authority to 
lay duties on imports. But the policy being established, 
and a great part of the country having placed vast interests 
at stake in it, I have not disturbed it; on the contrary, I 
have insisted that it ought not to be disturbed. If there be 
inconsistency in all this, the gentleman is at liberty to blazon 
it forth ; let him see what he can make of it. 

But, Sir, I have insisted that government is bound to pro¬ 
tect and regulate the means of commerce, to see that there 
is a sound currency for the use of the people. The honor¬ 
able gentleman asks, What then is the limit ? Must Con¬ 
gress also furnish all means of commerce? Must it furnish 
weights and scales and steelyards? Most undoubtedly, Sir, 
it must regulate weights and measures, and it does so. But 
the answer to the general question is very obvious. Gov¬ 
ernment must furnish all that which none but government 
can furnish. Government must do that for individuals which 
individuals cannot do for themselves. That is the very end 
of government. Why else have we a government ? Can 
individuals make a currency ? Can individuals regulate 
money ? The distinction is as broad and plain as the Penn¬ 
sylvania Avenue. No man can mistake it, or well blunder 
out of it. The gentleman asks if government must furnish 
for the people ships, and boats, and wagons. Certainly not. 
The gentleman here only recites the President’s message of 
September. These things, and all such things, the people 
can furnish for themselves; but they cannot make a cur¬ 
rency ; they cannot, individually, decide what shall be the 
money of the country. That, every body knows, is one of 
the prerogatives, and one of the duties, of government; and 
a duty which I think we are most unwisely and improperly 
neglecting. We may as well leave the people to make war 
and to make peace, each man for himself, as to leave to 
individuals the regulation of commerce and currency. 

Mr. President, there are other remarks of the gentleman 
of which I might take notice. But should I do so, I could 
only repeat what I have already said, either now or hereto¬ 
fore. I shall, therefore, not now allude to them. My 
principal purpose in what I have said has been to defend 


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myself; that was my first object; and next, as the honora¬ 
ble member has attempted to take to himself the character 
of a strict constructionist, and a State-rights man, and on 
that basis to show a difference, not favorable to me, between 
his constitutional opinions and my own, heretofore, it has 
been my intention to show that the power to create a bank, 
the power to regulate the currency by other and direct 
means, the power to enact a protective tariff, and the power 
of internal improvement, in its broadest sense, are all powers 
which the honorable gentleman himself has supported, has 
acted on, and in the exercise of which, indeed, he has taken 
a distinguished lead in the counsels of Congress. 

If this has been done, my purpose is answered. I do not 
wish to prolong the discussion, nor to spin it out into a col¬ 
loquy. If the honorable member has any thing new to 
bring forward ; if he has any charge to make, any proof, 
or any specification; if he has any thing to advance against 
my opinions or my conduct, my honor or patriotism, I am 
still at home. I am here. If not, then, so far as I am con¬ 
cerned, this discussion will here terminate. 


THE COMPLETION OF THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. 

Address delivered on Bunker Hill, on the Ylth of June, 1843. 

A duty has been performed. A work of gratitude and 
patriotism is completed. This structure, having its founda¬ 
tions in soil which drank deep of early Revolutionary blood, 
has at length reached its destined height, and now lifts its 
summit to the skies. 

We have assembled to celebrate the accomplishment of 
this undertaking, and to indulge afresh in the recollection 
of the great event which it is designed to commemorate. 
Eighteen years, more than half the ordinary duration of a 
generation of mankind, have elapsed since the corner stone 
of this monument was laid. The hopes of its projectors 
rested on voluntary contributions, private munificence, and 
the general favor of the public. These hopes have not been 
disappointed. Donations have been made by individuals, in 



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281 


some cases of large amount, and smaller sums have been 
contributed by thousands. All who regard the object itself 
as important, and its accomplishment, therefore, as a good 
attained, will entertain sincere respect and gratitude for the 
unwearied efforts of the successive presidents, boards of di¬ 
rectors, and committees of the Association which has had 
the general control of the work. The architect, equally 
entitled to our thanks and commendation, will find other 
reward, also, for his labor and skill, in the beauty and ele¬ 
gance of the obelisk itself, and the distinction which, as a 
work of art, it confers upon him. 

The Bunker Hill Monument is finished. Here it stands. 
Fortunate in the high natural eminence on which it is placed, 
higher, infinitely higher in its objects and purpose, it rises 
over the land and over the sea ; and, visible at their homes 
to three hundred thousand of the people of Massachusetts, 
it stands a memorial of the last, and a monitor to the pres¬ 
ent and to all succeeding generations. I have spoken of 
the loftiness of its purpose. If it had been without any 
other design than the creation of a work of art, the granite 
of which it is composed would have slept in its native bed. 
It has a purpose, and that purpose gives it its character. 
That purpose enrobes it with dignity and moral grandeur. 
That well-known purpose it is which causes us to look up 
to it with a feeling of awe. It is itself the orator of this 
occasion. It is not from my lips, it could not be from any 
human lips, that that strain of eloquence is this day to 
flow most competent to move and excite the vast multitudes 
around me. The powerful speaker stands motionless be¬ 
fore us. It is a plain shaft. It bears no inscriptions, front¬ 
ing to the rising sun, from which the future antiquary shall 
wipe the dust. Nor does the rising sun cause tones of 
music to issue from its summit. But at the rising of the 
sun, and at the setting of the sun ; in the blaze of noon¬ 
day, and beneath the milder effulgence of lunar light; it 
looks, it speaks, it acts, to the full comprehension of every 
American mind, and the awakening of glowing enthusiasm 
in every American heart. Its silent, but awful utterance; 
its deep pathos, as it brings to our contemplation the 17th 
24 * 


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of June, 1775, and the consequences which have resulted to 
us, to our country, and to the world, from the events of that 
day, and which we know must continue to rain influence 
on the destinies of mankind to the end of time; the eleva¬ 
tion with which it raises us high above the ordinary feelings 
of life, surpass all that the study of the closet, or even the 
inspiration of genius, can produce. To-day it speaks to us. 
Its future auditories will be the successive generations of 
men, as they rise up before it and gather around it. Its 
speech will be of patriotism and courage ; of civil and re¬ 
ligious liberty; of free government; of the moral improve¬ 
ment and elevation of mankind ; and of the immortal mem¬ 
ory of those who, with heroic devotion, have sacrificed their 
lives for their country. 

In the older world, numerous fabrics still exist, reared 
by human hands, but whose object has been lost in the 
darkness of ages. They are now monuments of nothing 
but the labor and skill which constructed them. 

The mighty pyramid itself, half buried in the sands of 
Africa, has nothing to bring down and report to us, but the 
power of kings and the servitude of the people. If it had 
any purpose beyond that of a mausoleum, such purpose has 
perished from history and from tradition. If asked for its 
moral object, its admonition, its sentiment, its instruction to 
mankind, or any high end in its erection, it is silent; silent 
as the millions which lie in the dust at its base, and in the 
catacombs which surround it. Without a just moral object, 
therefore, made known to man, though raised against the 
skies, it excites only conviction of power, mixed with strange 
wonder. But if the civilization of the present race of men, 
founded, as it is, in solid science, the true knowledge of 
nature, and vast discoveries in art, and which is elevated 
and purified by moral sentiment and by the truths of Chris¬ 
tianity, be not destined to destruction before the final termi¬ 
nation of human existence on earth, the object and purpose 
of this edifice will be known till that hour shall come. 
And even if civilization should be subverted, and the truths of 
the Christian religion obscured by a new deluge of barbarism, 
the memory of Bunker Hill and the American Revolution 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


283 


will still be elements and parts of the knowledge which 
shall be possessed by the last man to whom the light of 
civilization and Christianity shall be extended. 

This celebration is honored by the presence of the chief 
executive magistrate of the Union. An occasion so national 
in its object and character, and so much connected with 
that Revolution from which the government sprang at the 
head of which he is placed, may well receive from him this 
mark of attention and respect. Well acquainted with York- 
town, the scene of the last great military struggle of the 
Revolution, his eye now surveys the field of Bunker Hill, 
the theatre of the first of those important conflicts. He 
sees where Warren fell, where Putnam, and Prescott, and 
Stark, and Knowlton, and Brooks fought. He beholds the 
spot where a thousand trained soldiers of England were 
smitten to the earth, in the first effort of revolutionary war, 
by the arm of a bold and determined yeomanry, contending 
for liberty and their country. And while all assembled 
here entertain towards him sincere personal good wishes 
and the high respect due to his elevated office and station, 
it is not to be doubted that he enters, with true American 
feeling, into the patriotic enthusiasm kindled by the occasion 
which animates the multitudes that surround him. 

His Excellency, the Governor of the Commonwealth, the 
Governor of Rhode Island, and the other distinguished 
public men whom we have the honor to receive as visitors 
and guests to-day, will cordially unite in a celebration .con¬ 
nected with the great event of the Revolutionary war. 

No name in the history of 1775 and 1776 is more dis¬ 
tinguished than that borne by an ex-president of the United 
States, whom w r e expected to see here, but whose ill health 
prevents his attendance. Whenever popular rights were to 
be asserted, an Adams was present; and when the time 
came for the formal Declaration of Independence, it was 
the voice of an Adams that shook the halls of Congress. 
We wish we could have welcomed to us this day the in¬ 
heritor of Revolutionary blood, and the just and worthy 
representative of high Revolutionary names, merit, and 
services. 


284 


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Banners and badges, processions and flags, announce to 
us, that amidst this uncounted throng are thousands of 
natives of New England now residents in other States. 
Welcome, ye kindred names with kindred blood! From 
the broad savannas of the South, from the newer regions 
of the West, from amidst the hundreds of thousands of men 
of Eastern origin who cultivate the rich valley of the Gene¬ 
see or live along the chain of the Lakes, from the mountains 
of Pennsylvania, and from the thronged cities of the coast, 
welcome, welcome ! Wherever else you may be strangers, 
here you are all at home. You assemble at this shrine of 
liberty, near the family altars at which your earliest devo¬ 
tions were paid to Heaven ; near to the temples of worship 
first entered by you, and near to the schools and colleges in 
which your education was received. You come hither with 
a glorious ancestry of liberty. You bring names which are 
on the rolls of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. You 
come, some of you, once more to be embraced by an aged 
Revolutionary father, or to receive another, perhaps a last, 
blessing, bestowed in love and tears, by a mother, yet sur¬ 
viving to witness and to enjoy your prosperity and happiness. 

But if family associations and the recollections of the past 
bring you hither with greater alacrity, and mingle with your 
greeting much of local attachment and private affection, 
greeting also be given, free and hearty greeting, to every 
American citizen who treads this sacred soil with patriotic 
feeling, and respires with pleasure in an atmosphere per¬ 
fumed with the recollections of 1775! This occasion is 
respectable, nay, it is grand, it is sublime, by the nationality 
of its sentiment. Among the seventeen millions of happy 
people who form the American community, there is not 
one who has not an interest in this monument, as there is 
not one that has not a deep and abiding interest in that 
which it commemorates. 

Woe betide the man who brings to this day’s worship 
feeling less than wholly American ! Woe betide the man 
who can stand here with the fires of local resentments burn¬ 
ing, or the purpose of fomenting local jealousies and the 
strifes of local interests festering and rankling in his heart. 


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285 


Union, established in justice, in patriotism, and the most 
plain and obvious common interest,—union, founded on the 
same love of liberty, cemented by blood shed in the same 
common cause, — union has been the source of all our glory 
and greatness thus far, and is the ground of all our highest 
hopes. This column stands on Union. I know not that it 
might not keep its position if the American Union, in the 
mad conflict of human passions, and in the strife of parties 
and factions, should be broken up and destroyed. I know 
not that it would totter and fall to the earth, and mingle its 
fragments with the fragments of Liberty and the Constitution, 
when State should be separated from State, and faction and 
dismemberment obliterate for ever all the hopes of the found¬ 
ers of our republic, and the great inheritance of their chil¬ 
dren. It might stand. But who, from beneath the weight 
of mortification and shame that would oppress him, could 
look up to behold it ? Whose eyeballs would not be seared 
by such a spectacle 1 For my part, should I live to such a 
time, I shall avert my eyes from it for ever. 

It is not as a mere military encounter of hostile armies, 
that the battle of Bunker Hill presents its principal claim to 
attention. Yet, even as a mere battle, there were circum¬ 
stances attending it extraordinary in character, and entitling 
it to peculiar distinction. It was fought on this eminence ; in 
the neighborhood of yonder city ; in the presence of many 
more spectators than there were combatants in the conflict. 
Men, women, and children, from every commanding po¬ 
sition, were gazing at the battle, and looking for its results 
with all the eagerness natural to those who knew that the 
issue was fraught with the deepest consequences to them¬ 
selves, personally, as well as to their country. Yet, on the 
16th of June, 1775, there was nothing around this hill but 
verdure and culture. There was, indeed, the note of awful 
preparation in Boston. There was the Provincial army at 
Cambridge, with its right flank resting on Dorchester, and 
its left on Chelsea. But here all was peace. Tranquillity 
reigned around. On the 17th every thing was changed. 
On this eminence had arisen, in the night, a redoubt, built 
by Prescott, and in which he held command. Perceived 


286 


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by the enemy at dawn, it was immediately cannonaded from 
the floating batteries in the river, and from the opposite 
shore. And then ensued the hurried movement in Boston, 
and soon the troops of Britain embarked in the attempt to 
dislodge the Colonists. In an hour every thing indicated 
an immediate and bloody conflict. Love of liberty on one 
side, proud defiance of rebellion on the other; hopes and 
fears, and courage and daring, on both sides, animated the 
hearts of the combatants as they hung on the edge of battle. 

I suppose it would be difficult, in a military point of view, 
to ascribe to the leaders on either side any just motive for 
the engagement which followed. On the one hand, it could 
not have been very important to the Americans to attempt 
to hem the British within the town, by advancing one single 
post a quarter of a mile; while, on the other hand, if the 
British found it essential to dislodge the American troops, 
they had it in their power at no expense of life. By moving 
up their ships and batteries, they could have completely cut 
off all communication with the main land over the Neck, and 
the forces in the redoubt would have been reduced to a 
state of famine in forty-eight hours. 

But that was not the day for any such consideration on 
either side ! Both parties were anxious to try the strength 
of their arms. The pride of England would not permit the 
rebels, as she termed them, to defy her to the teeth ; and, 
without for a moment calculating the cost, the British gen¬ 
eral determined to destroy the fort immediately. On the 
other side, Prescott and his gallant followers longed and 
thirsted for a decisive trial of strength and of courage. 
They wished a battle, and wished it at once. And this is 
the true secret of the movements on this hill. 

I will not attempt to describe that battle. The cannon¬ 
ading ; the landing of the British ; their advance ; the cool¬ 
ness with which the charge was met; the repulse; the 
second attack ; the second repulse ; the burning of Charles¬ 
town ; and, finally, the closing assault, and the slow retreat 
of the Americans, —the history of all these is familiar. 

But the consequences of the battle of Bunker Hill were 
greater than those of any ordinary conflict, although between 


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287 


armies of far greater force, and terminating with more im¬ 
mediate advantage on the one side or the other. It was 
the first great battle of the Revolution ; and not only the 
first blow, but the blow which determined the contest. It 
did not, indeed, put an end to the war, but in the then 
existing hostile state of feeling, the difficulties could only 
be referred to the arbitration of the sword. And one thing 
is certain; that after the New England troops had shown 
themselves able to face and repulse the regulars, it was de¬ 
cided that peace never could be established but upon the 
basis of the independence of the Colonies. When the sun 
of that day went down, the event of Independence was no 
longer doubtful. In a few days Washington heard of the 
battle, 'and he inquired if the militia had stood the fire of 
the regulars. When told that they had not only stood that 
fire, but reserved their own till the enemy was within eight 
rods, and then poured it in with tremendous effect, “ Then,” 
exclaimed he, “ the liberties of the country are safe ! ” 

The consequences of this battle were just of the same im¬ 
portance as the Revolution itself. 

If there was nothing of value in the principles of the 
American Revolution, then there is nothing valuable in the 
battle of Bunker Hill and its consequences. But if the 
Revolution was an era in the history of man favorable to 
human happiness, if it was an event which marked the 
progress of man all over the world from despotism to liber¬ 
ty, then this*monument is not raised without cause. Then 
the battle of Bunker Hill is not an event undeserving cele¬ 
brations, commemorations, and rejoicings, now and in all 
coming times. 

What, then, is the true and peculiar principle of the Ameri¬ 
can Revolution, and of the systems of government which it has 
confirmed and established ? The truth is, that the American 
Revolution was not caused by the instantaneous discovery 
of principles of government before unheard of, or the prac¬ 
tical adoption of political ideas such as had never before 
entered into the minds of men. It was but the full devel¬ 
opment of principles of government, forms of society, and 
political sentiments, the origin of all which lay back two 
centuries in English and American history. 


288 


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The spirit of commercial and foreign adventure, there¬ 
fore, on the one hand, which had gained so much strength 
and influence since the time of the discovery of America, 
and, on the other, 1?he assertion and maintenance of religious 
liberty, having their source indeed in the Reformation, but 
continued, diversified, and constantly strengthened by the 
subsequent divisions of sentiment and opinion among the 
'Reformers themselves, and this love of religious liberty 
drawing after it or bringing along with it, as it always does, 
an ardent devotion to the principle of civil liberty also, were 
the powerful influences under which character was formed 
and men trained, for the great work of introducing English 
civilization, English law, and what is more than all, Anglo- 
Saxon blood, into the wilderness of North America. Ra¬ 
leigh and his companions may be considered as the creatures, 
principally, of the first of these causes. High-spirited, full 
of the love of personal adventure, excited, too, in some 
degree, by the hopes of sudden riches from the discovery 
of mines of the precious metals, and not unwilling to diver¬ 
sify the labors of settling a colony with occasional cruising 
against the Spaniards in the West Indian seas, they crossed 
and recrossed the ocean, with a frequency which surprises 
us, when we consider the state of navigation, and which 
evinces a most daring spirit. 

The other cause peopled New England. The Mayflower 
sought our shores under no high-wrought spirit of commer¬ 
cial adventure, no love of gold, no mixture of purpose war¬ 
like or hostile to any human being. Like the dove from 
the ark, she had put forth only to find rest. Solemn sup¬ 
plications on the shore of the sea, in Holland, had invoked 
for her, at her departure, the blessings of Providence. The 
stars which guided her were the unobscured constellations 
of civil and religious liberty. Her deck was the altar of 
the living God. Fervent prayers on bended knees, mingled, 
morning and evening, with the voices of ocean, and the 
sighing of the wind in her shrouds. Every prosperous 
breeze, which, gently swelling her sails, helped the Pilgrims 
onward in their course, awoke new anthems of praise ; and 
when the elements were wrought into fury, neither the 


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tempest, tossing their fragile bark like a feather, nor the 
darkness and howling of the midnight storm, ever disturbed, 
in man or woman, the firm and settled purpose of their 
souls, to undergo all, and to do all, that the meekest pa¬ 
tience, the boldest resolution, and the highest trust in God 
could enable human beings to suffer or to perform. 

Some differences may, doubtless, be traced at this day 
between the descendants of the early colonists of Virginia and 
those of New England, owing to the different influences 
and different circumstances under which the respective set¬ 
tlements were made; but only enough to create a pleasing 
variety in the midst of a general family resemblance. But 
the habits, sentiments, and objects of both soon became 
modified by local causes, growing out of their condition 
in the New World; and as this condition was essen¬ 
tially alike in both, and as both at once adopted the same 
general rules and principles of English jurisprudence, and 
became accustomed to the authority of representative bodies, 
these differences gradually diminished. They disappeared 
by the progress of time, and the influence of intercourse. 
The necessity of some degree of union and cooperation to 
defend themselves against the savage tribes, tended to excite 
in them mutual respect and regard. They fought together 
in the wars against France. The great and common cause 
of the Revolution bound them to one another by new links 
of brotherhood ; and at length the present constitution of 
government united them happily and gloriously, to form the 
great republic of the world, and bound up their interests and 
fortunes, till the whole earth sees that there is now for them, 
in present possession as well as in future hope, but “ One 
Country, One Constitution, and One Destiny.” 

Look round upon these fields; they are verdant and 
beautiful, well cultivated, and at this moment loaded with 
the riches of the early harvest. The hands which till them 
are those of the free owners of the soil, enjoying equal 
rights, and protected by law from oppression and tyranny. 
Look to the thousand vessels in our sight, filling the harbor, 
or covering the neighboring sea. They are the vehicles of 
a profitable commerce, carried on by men who know that 
25 


i 


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the profits of their hardy enterprise, when they make them, 
are their own ; and this commerce is encouraged and regu¬ 
lated by wise laws, and defended, when need be, by the 
valor and patriotism of the country. Look to that fair city, 
the abode of so much diffused wealth, so much general hap¬ 
piness and comfort, so much personal independence, and so 
much general knowledge, and not undistinguished, I may be 
permitted to add, for hospitality and social refinement. She 
fears no forced contributions, no siege or sacking from mili¬ 
tary leaders of rival factions. The hundred temples in 
which her citizens worship God are in no danger of sacri¬ 
lege. The regular administration of the laws encounters no 
obstacle. The long processions of children and youth, 
which you see this day, issuing by thousands from her free 
schools, prove the care and anxiety with which a popular 
government provides for the education and morals of the 
people. Every where there is order; every where there is 
security. Every where the law reaches to the highest and 
reaches to the lowest, to protect all in their rights, and to 
restrain all from wrong; and over all hovers liberty; that 
liberty for which our fathers fought and fell on this very 
spot, with her eye ever watchful, and her eagle wing ever 
wide outspread. 

The English colonists in America, generally speaking, 
were men who were seeking new homes in a new world. 
They brought with them their families and all that was most 
dear to them. This was especially the case with the colo¬ 
nists of Plymouth and Massachusetts. Many of them were 
educated men, and all possessed their full share, according 
to their social condition, of the knowledge and attainments 
of that age. The distinctive characteristic of their settle¬ 
ment is the introduction of the civilization of Europe into a 
wilderness, without bringing with it the political institutions 
of Europe. The arts, sciences, and literature of England 
came over with the settlers. That great portion of the 
common law which regulates the social and personal rela¬ 
tions and conduct of men, came also. The jury came ; the 
habeas corpus came; the testamentary power came; and 
the law of inheritance and descent came also, except that 


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part of it which recognizes the rights of primogeniture, 
which either did not come at all, or soon gave way to the 
rule of equal partition of estates among children. But the 
monarchy did not come, nor the aristocracy, nor the 
church, as an estate of the realm. Political institutions 
were to be framed anew, such as should be adapted to the 
state of tilings. But it could not be doubtful what should 
be the nature and character of these institutions. A general 
social equality prevailed among the settlers, and an equality 
of political rights seemed the natural, if not the necessary 
consequence. It has been said, with much vivacity, that the 
felicity of the American colonists consisted in their escape 
from the past. This is true so far as respects political es¬ 
tablishments, but no further. They brought with them a 
full portion of all the riches of the past, in science, in art, in 
morals, religion, and literature. The Bible came with them. 
And it is not to be doubted, that to the free and universal 
reading of the Bible, in that age, men were much indebted 
for right views of civil liberty. The Bible is a book of 
faith, and a book of doctrine, and a book of morals, and a 
book of religion, of especial revelation from God ; but it is 
also a book which teaches man his own individual responsi¬ 
bility, his own dignity, and his equality with his fellow-man. 

Bacon and Locke, and Shakspeare and Milton, also came 
with the colonists. It was the object of the first settlers to 
form new political systems, but all that belonged to culti¬ 
vated man, to family, to neighborhood, to social relations, 
accompanied them. In the Doric phrase of one of our own 
historians, “they came to settle on bare creation;” but 
their settlement in the wilderness, nevertheless, was not a 
lodgment of nomadic tribes, a mere resting-place of roam¬ 
ing savages. It was the beginning of a permanent commu¬ 
nity, the fixed residence of cultivated men. Not only was 
English literature read, but English, good English, was 
spoken and written, before the axe had made way to let in the 
sun upon the habitations and fields of Plymouth and Massa¬ 
chusetts. And whatever may be said to the contrary, a cor¬ 
rect use of the English language is, at this day, more gen¬ 
eral throughout the United States, than it is throughout 
England herself. 


292 


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The great elements, then, of the American system of 
government, originally introduced by the colonists, and which 
were early in operation, and ready to be developed, more 
and more, as the progress of events should justify or demand, 
were, — 

Escape from the existing political systems of Europe, in¬ 
cluding its religious hierarchies, but the continued possession 
and enjoyment of its science and arts, its literature, and its 
manners ; 

Home government, or the power of making in the colony 
the municipal laws which were to govern it; 

Equality of rights; 

Representative assemblies, or forms of government founded 
on popular elections. 

Few topics are more inviting, or more fit for philosophical 
discussion, than the effect on the happiness of mankind of 
institutions founded upon these principles; or, in other 
words, the influence of the New World upon the Old. 

Her obligations to Europe for science and art, laws, lit¬ 
erature, and manners, America acknowledges as she ought, 
with respect and gratitude. The people of the United 
States, descendants of the English stock, grateful for the 
treasures of knowledge derived from their English ancestors, 
admit also, with thanks and filial regard, that among those 
ancestors, under the culture of Hampden and Sydney and 
other assiduous friends, that seed of popular liberty first ger¬ 
minated, which on our soil lias shot up to its full height, 
until its branches overshadow all the land. 

But America has not failed to make returns. If she has 
not wholly cancelled the obligation, or equalled it by others 
of like weight, she has, at least, made respectable advances 
towards repaying the debt. And she admits, that, standing 
in the midst of civilized nations, and in a civilized age, a 
nation among nations, there is a high part which she is ex¬ 
pected to act, for the general advancement of human interests 
and human welfare. 

American mines have filled the mints of Europe with the 
precious metals. The productions of the American soil and 
climate have poured out their abundance of luxuries for the 
tables of the rich, and of necessaries for the sustenance of 


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293 


the poor. Birds and animals of beauty and value have been 
added to the European stocks; and transplantations from 
the unequalled riches of our forests have mingled themselves 
profusely' with the elms, and ashes, and Druidical oaks of 
England. 

America has made contributions to Europe far more im¬ 
portant. Who can estimate the amount, or the value, of the 
augmentation of the commerce of the world that has re¬ 
sulted from America ? Who can imagine to himself what 
would now be the shock to the Eastern Continent, if the 
Atlantic were no longer traversable, or if there were no 
longer American productions, or American markets 1 

But America exercises influences, or holds out examples, 
for the consideration of the Old World, of a much higher, 
because they are of a moral and political character. 

America has furnished to Europe proof of the fact, that 
popular institutions, founded on equality and the principle of 
representation, are capable of maintaining governments, able 
to secure the rights of person, property, and reputation. 

America has proved that it is practicable to elevate the 
mass of mankind, —that portion which in Europe is called 
the laboring, or lower class, — to raise them to self-respect, 
to make them competent to act a part in the great right and 
great duty of self-government; and she has proved that this 
may be done by education aud the diffusion of knowledge. 
She holds out an example, a thousand times more encour¬ 
aging than ever was presented before, to those nine tenths 
of the human race who are born without hereditary fortune 
or hereditary rank. 

America has furnished to the world the character of 
Washington ! And if our American institutions had done 
nothing else, that alone would have entitled them to the 
respect of mankind. 

Washington ! “ First in war, first in peace, and first in 

the hearts of his countrymen! ” Washington is all our 
own ! The enthusiastic veneration and regard in which the 
people of the United States hold him prove them to be 
worthy of such a countryman ; while his reputation abroad 
reflects the highest honor on his country. I would cheer- 
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fully put the question to-day to the intelligence of Europe 
and the world, what character of the century, upon the 
whole, stands out in the relief of history, most pure, most 
respectable, most sublime; and I doubt not, that, by a suf¬ 
frage approaching to unanimity, the answer would be Wash¬ 
ington ! 

The structure now standing before us, by its uprightness, 
its solidity, its durability, is no unfit emblem of his charac¬ 
ter. His public virtues and public principles were as firm 
as the earth on which it stands; his personal motives, as 
pure as the serene heaven in which its summit is lost. But, 
indeed, though a fit, it is an inadequate emblem. Towering 
high above the column which our hands have budded, beheld, 
not by the inhabitants of a single city or a single State, but by 
all the families of man, ascends the colossal grandeur of the 
character and life of Washington. In all the constituents of 
the one, in all the acts of the other, in all its titles to immortal 
love, admiration, and renown, it is an American production. 
It is the embodiment and vindication of our Transatlantic 
liberty. Born upon our soil, of parents also born upon it; 
never for a moment having had sight of the Old World; 
instructed, according to the modes of his time, only in the 
spare, plain, but wholesome elementary knowledge which 
our institutions provide for the children of the people; 
growing up beneath and penetrated by the genuine influ¬ 
ences of American society; living from infancy to manhood 
and age amidst our expanding, but not luxurious civilization ; 
partaking in our great destiny of labor, our long contest 
with unreclaimed nature and uncivilized man, our agony of 
glory, the war of Independence, our great victory of peace, 
the formation of the Union, and the establishment of the 
Constitution; he is all, all our own! Washington is ours. 
That crowded and glorious life, — 

“ Where multitudes of virtues passed along, 

Each pressing foremost, in the mighty throng 
Ambitious to be seen, then making room 
For greater multitudes that were to come,” — 

that life was the life of an American citizen. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


295 


I claim him for America. In all the perils, in every 
darkened moment of the state, in the midst of the re¬ 
proaches of enemies and the misgiving of friends, I turn to 
that transcendent navne for courage and for consolation. 
To him who denies or doubts whether our fervid liberty can 
be combined with law, with order, with the security of 
property, with the pursuits and advancement of happiness; 
to him who denies that our forms of government are capable 
of producing exaltation of soul, and the passion of true 
glory; to him who denies that we have contributed any 
thing to the stock of great lessons and great examples; — 
to all these I reply by pointing to Washington ! 

And now, friends and fellow-citizens, it is time to bring 
this discourse to a close. 

We have indulged in gratifying recollections of the past, 
in the prosperity and pleasures of the present, and in high 
hopes for the future. But let us remember that we have 
duties and obligations to perform, corresponding to the 
blessings which we enjoy. Let us remember the trust, the 
sacred trust, attaching to the rich inheritance which we have 
received from our fathers. Let us feel our personal re¬ 
sponsibility, to the full extent of ,pur power and influence, 
for the preservation of the principles of civil and religious 
liberty. And let us remember that it is only religion, and 
morals, and knowledge, that can make men respectable and 
happy, under any form of government. Let us hold fast the 
great truth, that communities are responsible, as well as in¬ 
dividuals; that no government is respectable, which is not 
just; that without unspotted purity of public faith, without 
sacred public principle, fidelity, and honor, no mere forms 
of government, no machinery of laws, can give dignity to 
political society. In our day and generation let us seek to 
raise and improve the moral sentiment, so that we may look, 
not for a degraded, but for an elevated and improved future. 
And when both we and our children shall have been con¬ 
signed to the house appointed for all living, may love of 
country and pride of country glow with equal fervor among 
those to whom our names and our blood shall have de¬ 
scended ! And then, when honored and decrepit age shall 


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lean against the base of this monument, and troops of ingen 
uous youth shall be gathered round it, and when the one 
shall speak to the other of its objects, the purposes of its 
construction, and the great and glorious events with which 
it is connected, there shall rise from every youthful breast 
the ejaculation, “Thank God, I — I also — am an Ameri¬ 
can ! ” 


THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY AND THE RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION 
OF THE YOUNG. 

Speech delivered in the Supreme Court at Washington, on the 20 th of February, 1844, in 

Vie Case of the Heirs at Law of the late Stephen Girard, against the Mayor, Aldermen , 

and Citizens of Philadelphia, the Executors of Stephen Girard. The Case was decided 

in Favor of Vie W ill. 

May it please your Honors: — It is not necessary for 
me to narrate, in detail, the numerous provisions of Mr. 
Girard’s will. This has already been repeatedly done by 
other counsel, and I shall content myself with stating and 
considering those parts only which are immediately involved 
in tlfe decision of this cause. 

The testator proceeds to give his directions respecting 
the institution, laying down his plan and objects in several 
articles. The third article is in these words: — 

“ 3. As many poor white male orphans, between the ages of six and 
ten years, as the said income shall be adequate to maintain, shall be in¬ 
troduced into the college as soon as possible; and from time to time, as 
there may be vacancies, or as increased ability from income may war¬ 
rant, others shall be introduced.” 

The testator proceeds to say, that he necessarily leaves 
many details to the city government; and then adds, 
“ There are, however, some restrictions which I consider 
it my duty to prescribe, and to be, amongst others, condi¬ 
tions on which my bequest for said college is made, and to 
be enjoyed.” 

The second of these restrictions is in the following 
words: — 

“ Secondly. I enjoin and require that no ecclesiastic, missionary, or min¬ 
ister, of any sect whatever, shall ever hold or exercise any station or duty what¬ 
ever in the said college; nor shall any suck person ever be admitted for any 



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purpose , or as a visitor , within the premises appropriated to the purposes of 
the said college 

This scheme of instruction begins by attempting to attach 
reproach and odium to the whole clergy of the country. It 
places a brand, a stigma, on every individual member of the 
profession, without an exception. No minister of the Gos¬ 
pel, of any denomination, is to be allowed to come within 
the grounds belonging to this school, on any occasion, or 
for any purpose whatever. They are all rigorously ex¬ 
cluded, as if their mere presence might cause pestilence. 
We have heard it said that Mr. Girard, by this will, distrib¬ 
uted his charity without distinction of sect or party. How¬ 
ever that may be, Sir, he certainly has dealt out opprobrium 
to the whole profession of the clergy, without regard to sect 
or party. 

By this will, no minister of the Gospel of any sect or de¬ 
nomination whatever can be authorized or allowed to hold 
any office within the college; and not only that, but no 
minister or clergyman of any sect can, for any purpose 
whatever, enter within the walls that are to surround this col¬ 
lege. If a clergyman has a sick nephew, or a sick grand¬ 
son, he cannot, upon any pretext, be allowed to visit him with¬ 
in the walls of the college. The provision of the will is ex¬ 
press and decisive. Still less may a clergyman enter to 
offer consolation to the sick, or to unite in prayer with the 
dying. 

Now, I will not arraign Mr. Girard or his motives for 
this. I will not inquire into Mr. Girard’s opinions upon re¬ 
ligion. But I feel bound to say, the occasion demands that 
I should say, that this is the most opprobrious, the most in¬ 
sulting ahd unmerited stigma, that ever was cast, or at¬ 
tempted to be cast, upon the preachers of Christianity, from 
north to south, from east to west, through the length and 
breadth of the land, in the history of the country. When 
have they deserved it ? Where have they deserved it ? 
How have they deserved it ? They are not to be allowed 
even the ordinary rights of hospitality; not even to be 
permitted to put their foot over the threshold of this 
college! 


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Sir, I take it upon myself to say, that in no country in 
the world, upon either continent, can there be found a body 
of ministers of the Gospel who perform so much service to 
man, in such a full spirit of self-denial, under so little en¬ 
couragement from government of any kind, and under cir¬ 
cumstances almost always much straitened and often dis¬ 
tressed, as the ministers of the Gospel in the United States, 
of all denominations. They form no part of any estab¬ 
lished order of religion ; they constitute no hierarchy ; they 
enjoy no peculiar privileges. In some of the States they 
are even shut out from all participation in the political rights 
and privileges enjoyed by their fellow-citizens. They enjoy 
no tithes, no public provision of any kind. Except here 
and there, in large cities, where a wealthy individual occa¬ 
sionally makes a donation for the support of public worship, 
what have they to depend upon ? They have to depend 
entirely on the voluntary contributions of those who hear 
them. 

And this body of clergymen has shown, to the honor of 
their own country and to the astonishment of the hierarchies 
of the Old World, that it is practicable in free governments to 
raise and sustain by voluntary contributions alone a body of 
clergymen, which, for devotedness to their sacred calling, 
for purity of life and character, for learning, intelligence, 
piety, and that wisdom which cometh from above, is inferior 
to none, and superior to most others. 

1 hope that our learned men have done something for the 
honor of our literature abroad. 1 hope that the courts of 
justice and members of the bar of this country have done 
something to elevate the character of the profession of the 
law. I hope that the discussions above (in Congress) have 
done something to meliorate the condition of the human 
race, to secure and extend the great charter of human 
rights, and to strengthen and advance the great principles 
of human liberty. But I contend that no literary efforts, 
no adjudications, no constitutional discussions, nothing that 
has been done or said in favor of the great interests of uni¬ 
versal man, has done this country more credit, at home and 
abroad, than the establishment of our body of clergymen, 


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their support by voluntary contributions, and the general 
excellence of their character for piety and learning. 

The great truth has thus been proclaimed and proved, a 
truth which I believe will in time to come shake all the 
hierarchies of Europe, that the voluntary support of such a 
ministry, under free institutions, is a practicable idea. 

And yet every one of these, the Christian ministers of the 
United States, is by this devise denied the privileges which 
are at the same time open to the vilest of our race; every 
one is shut out from this, I had almost said, sanctum , but I 
will not profane that word by such a use of it. 

The devise before us proposes to establish, as its main ob¬ 
ject, a school of learning, a college. There are provisions, 
of course, for lodging, clothing, and feeding the pupils, but 
all this is subsidiary. The great object is the instruction of 
the young; although it proposes to give the children better 
food and clothes and lodging, and proposes that the system 
of education shall be somewhat better than that which is 
usually provided for the poor and destitute in our public in¬ 
stitutions generally. 

The main object, then, is to establish a school of learn¬ 
ing for children, beginning with them at a very tender age, 
and retaining them (namely, from six years to eighteen) till 
they are on the verge of manhood, when they will have ex¬ 
pended more than one third part of the average duration of 
human life. For if the college takes them at six, and keeps 
them till they are eighteen, a period of twelve years will be 
passed within its walls; more than a third part of the aver¬ 
age of human life. These children, then, are to be taken 
almost before they learn their alphabet, and be discharged 
about the time that men enter on the active business of life. 
At six, many do not know their alphabet. John Wesley 
did not know a letter till after lie was six years old, and his 
mother then took him on her lap, and taught him his alpha¬ 
bet at a single lesson. There are many parents who think 
that any attempt to instil the rudiments of education into the 
mind of a child at an earlier age, is little better than labor 
thrown away. 

The great object, then, which Mr. Girard seemed to have 


300 


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in view, was to take these orphans at this very tender age, 
and to keep them within his walls until they were entering 
manhood. And this object I pray your honors steadily to 
bear in mind. 

I never, in the whole course of my life, listened to any 
thing with more sincere delight, than to the remarks of my 
learned friend who opened this cause, on the nature and 
character of true charity. I agree with every word he said 
on that subject, i almost envy him his power of expressing 
so happily what his mind conceives so clearly and correctly. 
He is right when he speaks of it as an emanation from the 
Christian religion. He is right when he says tiiat it has its 
origin in the word of God. He is right when he says that 
it was unknown throughout all the world till the first dawn 
of Christianity. He is right, preeminently right, in all this, 
as he was preeminently happy in his power of clothing his 
thoughts and feelings in appropriate forms of speech. And 
] maintain, that, in any institution for the instruction of 
youth, where the authority of God is disowned, and the 
duties of Christianity derided and despised, and its ministers 
shut out from all participation in its proceedings, there can 
no more be charity, true charity, found to exist, than evil 
can spring out of the Bible, error out of truth, or hatred 
and animosity come forth from the bosom of perfect love. 
No, Sir! No, Sir! If charity denies its birth and parent¬ 
age, if it turns infidel to the great doctrines of the Christian 
religion, if it turns unbeliever, it is no longer charity! 
There is no longer charity, either in a Christian sense or in 
tiie sense of jurisprudence ; for it separates itself from the 
fountain of its own creation. 

Now, let us look at the condition and prospects of these 
tender children, who are to be submitted to this experiment 
of instruction without Christianity. In the first place, they 
are orphans, have no parents to guide or instruct them in 
the way in which they should go, no father, no religious 
mother, to lead them to the pure fount of Christianity ; 
they are orphans. If they were only poor, there might be 
somebody bound by ties of human affection to look after 
their spiritual welfare ; to see that they imbibed no erro- 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


301 


neous opinions on the subject of religion; that they run 
into no excessive improprieties of belief as well as conduct. 
The child would have its father or mother to teach it to lisp 
the name of its Creator in prayer, or hymn His praise. 
But in this experimental school of instruction, if the orphans 
have any friends or connections able to look after their 
welfare, it shuts them out. It is made the duty of the gov¬ 
ernors of the institution, on taking the child, so to make out 
the indentures of apprenticeship as to keep him from any 
after interference in his welfare on the part of guardians or 
relatives ; to keep them from withdrawing him from the 
school, or interfering with his instruction whilst he is in the 
school, in any manner whatever. 

Now, I suppose there is nothing in the New Testament 
more clearly established by the Author of Christianity, than 
the appointment of a Christian ministry. The world was 
to be evangelized, was to be brought out of darkness into 
light, by the influences of the Christian religion, spread and 
propagated by the instrumentality of man. A Christian 
ministry was therefore appointed by the Author of the Chris¬ 
tian religion himself, and it stands on the same authority as 
any other part of his religion. When the lost sheep of the 
house of Israel were to be brought to the knowledge of 
Christianity, the disciples were commanded to go forth into 
all the cities, and to preach “ that the kingdom of heaven is 
at hand.” It was added, that whosoever would not receive 
them, nor hear their words, it should be more tolerable for 
Sodom and Gomorrah than for them. And after his resur¬ 
rection, in the appointment of the great mission to the whole 
human race, the Author of Christianity commanded his dis¬ 
ciples that they should “ go into all the world, and preach 
the Gospel to every creature.” This was one of his last 
commands; and one of his last promises was the assurance, 
“ Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world ! ” 
I say, therefore, there is nothing set forth more authentical¬ 
ly in the New Testament fiian the appointment of a Chris¬ 
tian ministry ; and he who does not believe this does not 
and cannot believe the rest. 

It is true that Christian ministers, in this age of the world, 

26 


v 


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are selected in different ways and different modes by differ¬ 
ent sects and denominations. But there are, still, ministers 
of all sects and denominations. Why should we shut our 
eyes to the whole history of Christianity ? Is it not the 
preaching of ministers of the Gospel that has evangelized 
the more civilized part of the world 1 Why do we at this 
day enjoy the lights and benefits of Christianity ourselves ? 
Do we not owe it to the instrumentality of the Christian 
ministry ? The ministers of Christianity, departing from 
Asia Minor, traversing Asia, Africa, and Europe, to Iceland, 
Greenland, and the poles of the earth, suffering all things, 
enduring all things, hoping all things, raising men every 
where from the ignorance of idol worship to the knowledge 
of the true God, and every where bringing life and immor¬ 
tality to light through the Gospel, have only been acting in 
obedience to the Divine instruction ; they were commanded 
to go forth, and they have gone forth, and they still go 
forth. They have sought, and they still seek, to be able to 
preach the Gospel to every creature under the whole heaven. 

In the next place, this scheme of education is derogatory 
to Christianity, because it proceeds upon the presumption 
that the Christian religion is not the only true foundation, 
or any necessary foundation, of morals. The ground taken 
is, that religion is not necessary to morality ; that benevo¬ 
lence may be insured by habit, and that all the virtues may 
flourish, and be safely left to the chance of flourishing, with¬ 
out touching the waters of the living spring of religious 
responsibility. With him who thinks thus, what can be the 
value of the Christian revelation ? So the Christian world 
has not thought; for by that Christian world, throughout its 
broadest extent, it has been, and is, held as a fundamental 
truth, that religion is the only solid basis of morals, and that 
moral instruction not resting on this bt\sis is only a building 
upon sand. And at what age of the Christian era have 
those who professed to teach t^e Christian religion, or to 
believe in its authority and importance, not insisted on the 
absolute necessity of inculcating its principles and its pre¬ 
cepts upon the minds of the young ? In what age, by what 
sect, where, when, by whom, has religious truth been ex- 


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eluded from the education of youth ? Nowhere; never. 
Every where, and at all times, it has been, and is, regarded 
as essential. It is of the essence, the vitality, of useful in¬ 
struction. From all this Mr. Girard dissents. His plan 
denies the necessity and the propriety of religious instruc¬ 
tion as a part of the education of youth. He dissents, not 
only from all the sentiments of Christian mankind, from all 
common conviction, and from the results of all experience, 
but he dissents also from still higher authority, the word of 
God itself. My learned friend has referred, with propriety, 
to one of the commands of the Decalogue ; but there is 
another, a first commandment, and that is a precept of re¬ 
ligion, and it is in subordination to this that the moral pre¬ 
cepts of the Decalogue are proclaimed. This first great 
commandment teaches man that there is one, and only one, 
great First Cause, one, and only one, proper object of 
human worship. This is the great, the ever fresh, the 
overflowing fountain of all revealed truth. Without it 
human life is a desert, of no known termination on any 
side, but shut in on all sides by a dark and impenetrable 
horizon. Without the light of this truth, man knows 
nothing of his origin, and nothing of his end. And when 
the Decalogue was delivered to the Jews, with this great 
announcement and command at its head, what said the in¬ 
spired lawgiver ? that it should be kept from children ? that 
it should be reserved as a communication fit only for mature 
age 1 Far, far otherwise. “ And these words, which I 
command thee this day, shall be in thy heart. And thou 
shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shall talk 
of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou 
walkest by the way, when thou best down, and when thou 
risest up.” 

There is an authority still more imposing and awful. 
When little children were brought into the presence of the 
Son of God, his disciples proposed to send them away; but 
he said, “ Suffer little children to come unto me.” Unto 
me; he did not send them first for lessons in morals to the 
schools of the Pharisees or to the unbelieving Sadducees, 
nor to read the precepts and lessons phylacteried on the gar- 


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merits of the Jewish priesthood ; he said nothing’ of different 
creeds or clashing doctrines ; but he opened at once to the 
youthful mind the everlasting fountain of living waters, the 
only source of eternal truths: “Suffer little children to 
come unto me And that injunction is of perpetual obliga¬ 
tion. It addresses itself to-day with the same earnestness 
and the same authority which attended its first utterance to 
the Christian world. It is of force every where, and at all 
times. It extends to the ends of the earth, it will reach to 
the end of time, always and every where sounding in the 
ears of men, with an emphasis which no repetition can 
weaken, and with an authority which nothing can supersede : 
“ Suffer little children to come unto me.” 

And not only my’heart, and my judgment, my belief, and 
my conscience, instruct me that this great precept should be 
obeyed, but the idea is so sacred, the solemn thoughts con¬ 
nected with it so crowd upon me, it is so utterly at variance 
with this system of philosophical morality which we have 
heard advocated, that I stand and speak here in fear of being 
influenced by my feelings to exceed the proper line of my 
professional duty. Go thy way at this time, is the language 
of philosophical morality, and I will send for thee at a more 
convenient season. This is the language of Mr. Girard in 
his will. In this there is neither religion nor reason. 

The earliest and the most urgent intellectual want of 
human nature is the knowledge of its origin, its duty, and 
its destiny. “ Whence am I, what am I, and what is before 
me ? ” This is the cry of the human soul, so soon as it 
raises its contemplation above visible, material things. 

When an intellectual being finds himself on this earth, as 
soon as the faculties of reason operate, one of the first in¬ 
quiries of his mind is, “ Shall I be here always ? ” “ Shall I 

Jive here for ever ? ” And reasoning from what he sees daily 
occurring to others, he learns to a certainty that his state of 
being must one day be changed. I do not mean to deny, that 
it may be true that he is created with this consciousness ; but 
whether it be consciousness, or the result of his reasoning 
faculties, man soon learns that he must die. And of all sen¬ 
tient beings, he alone, so far as we can judge, attains to this 


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knowledge. His Maker has made him capable of learning 
this. Before he knows his origin and destiny, he knows that 
he is to die. Then comes that most urgent and solemn de¬ 
mand for light that ever proceeded, or can proceed, from the 
profound and anxious broodings of the human soul. It is 
stated, with wonderful force and beauty, in that incomparable 
composition, the book of Job : “ For there is hope of a tree, 
if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender 
branch thereof will not cease ; that, through the scent of 
water, it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But 
if a man die , shall he live again ? ” And that question noth¬ 
ing but God, and the religion of God, can solve. Religion 
does solve it, and teaches every man that he is to live again, 
and that the duties of this life have reference to the life 
which is to come. And hence, since the introduction of 
Christianity, it has been the duty, as it has been the effort, 
of the great and the good, to sanctify human knowledge, to 
bring it to the fount, and to baptize learning into Christianity; 
to gather up all its productions, its earliest and its latest, its 
blossoms and its fruits, and lay them all upon the altar of 
religion and virtue. 

Another important point involved in this question is, What 
becomes of the Christian Sabbath, in a school thus estab¬ 
lished ? I do not mean to say that this stands exactly on 
the same authority as the Christian religion, but I mean to 
say that the observance of the Sabbath is a part of Chris¬ 
tianity in all its forms. All Christians admit the observance 
of the Sabbath. All admit that there is a Lord’s day, al¬ 
though there may be a difference in the belief as to which 
is the right day to be observed. Now, I say that in this 
institution, under Mr. Girard’s scheme, the ordinary ob¬ 
servance of the Sabbath could not take place, because the 
ordinary means of observing it are excluded. 

I grant that the mind of youth should be kept pliant, and 
free from all undue and erroneous influences; that it should 
have as much play as is consistent with prudence; buf 
put it where it can obtain the elementary principles of re¬ 
ligious truth ; at any rate, those broad and general precepts 
and principles which are admitted by all Christians. But 
26 * 


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here, in this scheme of Mr. Girard, all sects and all creeds 
are denounced. And would not a prudent father rather 
send his child where he could get instruction under any 
form of the Christian religion, than where he could get 
none at all ? There are many instances of institutions, pro¬ 
fessing one leading creed, educating youths of different sects. 
The Baptist college in Rhode Island receives and educates 
youths of all religious sects and all beliefs. The colleges 
all over New England differ in certain minor points of be¬ 
lief, and yet that is held to be no ground for excluding 
youth with other forms of belief, and other religious views 
and sentiments. 

But this objection to the multitude and differences of sects 
is but the old story, the old infidel argument. It is notori¬ 
ous that there are certain great religious truths which are 
admitted and believed by all Christians. All believe in the 
existence of a God. All believe in the immortality of the 
soul. All believe in the responsibility, in another world, for 
our conduct in this. All believe in the divine authority of 
the New Testament. Dr. Paley says that a single word 
from the New Testament shuts up the mouth of human 
questioning, and excludes all human reasoning. And can¬ 
not all these great truths be taught to children without their 
minds being perplexed with clashing doctrines and sectarian 
controversies 1 Most certainly they can. 

And, to compare secular with religious matters, what 
would become of the organization of society, what would 
become of man as a social being, in connection with the 
social system, if we applied this mode of reasoning to him 
in his social relations 1 We have a constitutional govern¬ 
ment, about the powers, and limitations, and uses of which 
there is a vast amount of differences of belief. Your honors 
have a body of laws, now before you, in relation to which 
differences of opinion, almost innumerable, are daily spread 
before the courts; in all these we see clashing doctrines and 
opinions advanced daily, to as great an extent as in the re¬ 
ligious world. 

Apply the reasoning advanced by Mr. Girard to human 
institutions, and you will tear them all up by the root; as 


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you would inevitably tear all divine institutions up by the 
root, if such reasoning is to prevail. At the meeting of the 
first Congress, there was a doubt in the minds of many of 
the propriety of opening the session with prayer; and the 
reason assigned was, as here, the great diversity of opinion 
and religious belief. At length Mr. Samuel Adams, with 
his gray hairs hanging about his shoulders, and with an im¬ 
pressive venerableness now seldom to be met with, (I suppose 
owing to the difference of habits,) rose in that assembly, 
and, with the air of a perfect Puritan, said that it did not 
become men, professing to be Christian men, who had come 
together for solemn deliberation in the hour of their extrem¬ 
ity, to say that there was so wide a difference in their reli¬ 
gious belief, that they could not, as one man, bowHhe knee 
in prayer to the Almighty, whose advice and assistance they 
hoped to obtain. Independent as he was, and an enemy to 
all prelacy as he was known to be, he moved that the Rev. 
Mr. Duche, of the Episcopal Church, should address the 
Throne of Grace in prayer. And John Adams, in a letter 
to his wife, says that he never saw a more moving spectacle. 
Mr. Duche read the Episcopal service of the Church of 
England, and then, as if moved by the occasion, he broke 
out into extemporaneous prayer. And those men, who were 
then about to resort to force to obtain their rights, were 
moved to tears; and floods of tears, Mr. Adams says, ran 
down the cheeks of the pacific Quakers who formed part 
of that most interesting assembly. Depend upon it, where 
there is a spirit of Christianity, there is a spirit which rises 
above forms, above ceremonies, independent of sect or creed, 
and the controversies of clashing doctrines. 

The consolations of religion can never be administered 
to any of these sick and dying children in this college. It 
is said, indeed, that a poor, dying child can be carried out 
beyond the walls of the school. He can be carried out to 
a hostelry, or hovel, and there receive those rites of the 
Christian religion which cannot be performed within those 
walls, even in his dying hour ! Is not all this shocking 1 
What a stricture is it upon this whole scheme! What an 


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utter condemnation! A dying youth cannot receive reli¬ 
gious solace within this seminary of learning! 

The truth is, that those who really value Christianity, and 
believe in its importance, not only to the spiritual welfare 
of man, but to the safety and prosperity of human society, 
rejoice that in its revelations and its teachings there is so 
much which mounts above controversy, and stands on uni¬ 
versal acknowledgment. While many things about it are 
disputed or are dark, they still plainly see its foundation, 
and its main pillars; and they behold in it a sacred struc¬ 
ture, rising up to the heavens. They wish its general prin¬ 
ciples, and all its great truths, to be spread over the whole 
earth. But those who do not value Christianity, nor believe 
in its importance to society or individuals, cavil about sects 
and schisms, and ring monotonous changes upon the shallow* 
and so often refuted objections founded on alleged variety 
of discordant creeds and clashing doctrines. 

I have heretofore argued to show that the Christian reli¬ 
gion, its general principles, must ever be regarded among us 
as the foundation of civil society ; and I have thus far con¬ 
fined my remarks to the tendency and effect of the scheme 
of Mr. Girard (if carried out) upon the Christian religion. 
But 1 will go farther, and say that this school, this scheme 
or system, in its tendencies and effects, is opposed to all re¬ 
ligions, of every kind. I will not now enter into a contro¬ 
versy with my learned friend about the word “ tenets,” 
whether it signify opinions or dogmas, or whatever you 
please. Religious tenets, I take it, and I suppose it will be 
generally conceded, mean religious opinions ; and if a youth 
has arrived at the age of eighteen, and has no religious 
tenets, it is very plain that he has no religion. I do not 
care whether you call them dogmas, tenets, or opinions. If 
the youth does not entertain dogmas, tenets, or opinions, or 
opinions, tenets, or dogmas, on religious subjects, then he 
has no religion at all. And this strikes at a broader princi¬ 
ple than when you merely look at this school in its effect 
upon Christianity alone. We will suppose the case of a 
youth of eighteen, who has just left this school, and has 


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gone through an education of philosophical morality, pre¬ 
cisely in accordance with the views and expressed wishes of 
the donor. He comes then into the world to choose his re¬ 
ligious tenets. The very next day, perhaps, after leaving 
school, he comes into a court of law to give testimony as a 
witness. Sir, I protest that by such a system he would be 
disfranchised. He is asked, “ What is your religion 1 ” 
His reply is, “ O, I have not yet chosen any; I am going 
to look round, and see which suits me best.” He is asked, 
“ Are you a Christian 1 ” He replies, “ That involves re¬ 
ligious tenets, and as yet I have not been allowed to enter¬ 
tain any.” Again, “ Do you believe in a future state of 
rewards and punishments 1 ” And he answers, “ That in¬ 
volves sectarian controversies, which have carefully been 
kept from me.” “ Do you believe in the existence of a 
God 1 ” He answers, that there are clashing doctrines in¬ 
volved in these things, which he has been taught to have 
nothing to do with ; that the belief in the existence of a 
God, being one of the first questions in religion, he is 
shortly about to think of that proposition. Why, Sir, it is 
vain to talk about the destructive tendency of such a sys¬ 
tem ; to argue upon it is to insult the understanding of every 
man; it is mere , sheer, low , ribald , vulgar deism and infidel¬ 
ity* It opposes all that is in heaven, and all on earth that 
is worth being on earth. It destroys the connecting link 
between the creature and the Creator; it opposes that great 
system of universal benevolence and goodness that binds 
man to his Maker. No religion till he is eighteen! What 
would be the condition of all our families, of all our chil¬ 
dren, if religious fathers and religious mothers were to 
teach their sons and daughters no religious tenets till they 
were eighteen ? What would become of their morals, their 
character, their purity of heart and life, their hope for time 
and eternity 1 What would become of all those thousand 
ties of sweetness, benevolence, love, and Christian feeling, 
that now render our young men and young maidens like 
comely plants growing up by a streamlet’s side; the graces 

* The effect of this remark was almost electric, and some one in the 
court room broke out in applause. 


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and the grace of opening manhood, of blossoming woman¬ 
hood ? What would become of all that now renders the 
social circle lovely and beloved 1 What would become of 
society itself ? How could it exist ? And is that to be con¬ 
sidered a charity which strikes at the root of all this ; which 
subverts all the excellence and the charms of social life ; 
which tends to destroy the very foundation and framework 
of society, both in its practices and in its opinions; which 
subverts the whole decency, the whole morality, as well as 
the whole Christianity and government, of society? No, 
Sir ! no, Sir! 

1 now take leave of this cause. I look for no good what¬ 
ever from the establishment of this school, this college, this 
scheme, this experiment of an education in “ practical mo¬ 
rality,” unblessed by the influences of religion. It sometimes 
happens to man to attain by accident that which he could 
not achieve by long-continued exercise of industry and abil¬ 
ity. And it is said even of the man of genius, that by 
chance he will sometimes “ snatch a grace beyond the reach 
of art.” And I believe that men sometimes do mischief, 
not only beyond their intent, but beyond the ordinary scope 
of their talents and ability. In my opinion, if Mr. Girard 
had given years to the study of a mode by which he could 
dispose of his vast fortune so that no good could arise to 
the general cause of charity, no good to the general cause 
of learning, no good to human society, and which should be 
most productive of protracted struggles, troubles, and diffi¬ 
culties in the popular councils of a great city, he could not 
so effectually have attained that result as he has by this de¬ 
vise now before the court. It is not the result of good for¬ 
tunes, but of bad fortunes, which have overridden and cast 
down whatever of good might have been accomplished by a 
different disposition. I believe that this plan, this scheme, 
was unblessed in all its purposes, and in all its original 
plans. Unwise in all its frame and theory, while it lives it 
will lead an annoyed and troubled life, and leave an un¬ 
blessed memory when it dies. If I could persuade myself 
that this court would come to such a decision as, in my 
opinion, the public good and the law require, and if I could 


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believe that any humble efforts of my own had contributed 
in the least to lead to such a result, I should deem it the 
crowning mercy of my professional life. 


MR. JUSTICE STORY. 

At a meeting of the Suffolk Bar, held in the Circuit Court Room, Bos¬ 
ton, on the morning of the 12th of September, 1845, the day of the funeral 
of Mr. Justice Story, Chief Justice Shaw having taken the chair and 
announced the object of the meeting, Mr. Webster rose and spoke sub¬ 
stantially as follows: — 

Your solemn announcement, Mr. Chief Justice, has con¬ 
firmed the sad intelligence which had already reached us, 
through the public channels of information, and deeply 
afflicted us all. 

Joseph Story, one of the Associate Justices of the 
Supreme Court of the United States, and for many years 
the presiding judge of this Circuit, died on Wednesday 
evening last, at his house in Cambridge, wanting only a few 
days for the completion of the sixty-sixtli year of iiis age. 

This most mournful and lamentable event has called 
together the whole Bar of Suffolk, and all connected with 
the courts of law or the profession. It has brought you, 
Mr. Chief Justice, and your associates of the Bench of the 
Supreme Court of Massachusetts, into the midst of us; and 
you have done us the honor, out of respect to the occasion, 
to consent to preside over us, while we deliberate on what is 
due, as well to our own afflicted and smitten feelings, as to 
the exalted character and eminent distinction of the deceased 
judge. The occasion has drawn from his retirement, also, 
that venerable man, whom we all so much respect and 
honor, (Judge Davis,) who was, for thirty years, the asso¬ 
ciate of the deceased upon the same Bench. It has called 
hither another judicial personage, now in retirement, (Judge 
Putnam,) but long an ornament of that Bench of which you 
are now the head, and whose marked good fortune it is to 
have been the professional teacher of Mr. Justice Story, and 
the director of his early studies. He also is present to 


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whom this blow comes near; I mean, the learned judge 
(Judge Sprague) from whose side it has struck away a 
friend and a highly-venerated official associate. The mem¬ 
bers of the Law School at Cambridge, to which the deceased 
was so much attached, and who returned that attachment 
with all the ingenuousness and enthusiasm of educated and 
ardent youthful minds, are here also, to manifest their sense 
of their own severe deprivation, as well as their admiration 
of the bright and shining professional example which they 
have so loved to contemplate — an example, let me say to 
them, and let me say to all, as a solace in the midst of their 
sorrows, which death hath not touched and which time can¬ 
not obscure. 

Mr. Chief Justice, one sentiment pervades us all. It is 
that of the most profound and penetrating grief, mixed, 
nevertheless, with an assured conviction, that the great man 
whom we deplore is yet with us and in the midst of us. He 
hath not wholly died. He lives in the affections of friends 
and kindred, and in the high regard of the community. He 
lives in our remembrance of his social virtues, his warm and 
steady friendships, and the vivacity and richness of his con¬ 
versation. He lives, and will live still more permanently, by 
his words of written wisdom, by the results of his vast re¬ 
searches and attainments, by his imperishable legal judg¬ 
ments, and by those judicial disquisitions which have stamped 
his name, all over the civilized world, with the character of 
a commanding authority. “ Vivit, enim, vivetque semper; 
atque etiam latius in memoria hominum et sermone versa- 
bitur, postquam ab oculis recessit.” 

Mr. Chief Justice, there are consolations which arise to 
mitigate our loss, and shed the influence of resignation over 
unfeigned and heartfelt sorrow. We are all penetrated with 
gratitude to God that the deceased lived so long ; that he 
did so much for himself, his friends, the country, and the 
world; that his lamp went out, at last, without unsteadiness 
or flickering. He continued to exercise every power of his 
mind without dimness or obscuration, and every affection of 
his heart with no abatement of energy or warmth, till death 
drew an impenetrable veil between us and him. Indeed, he 


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seems to us now, as in truth lie is, not extinguished or 
ceasing to he, but only withdrawn ; as the clear sun goes 
down at its setting, not darkened, but only no longer seen. 

This calamity, Mr. Chief Justice, is not confined to the 
bar or the courts of this Commonwealth. It will be felt by 
every bar throughout the land, by every court, and indeed 
by every intelligent and well-informed man in or out of the 
profession. It will be felt still more widely, for his reputa¬ 
tion had a still wider range. In the High Court of Parlia¬ 
ment, in every tribunal in Westminster Hall, in the judica¬ 
tories of Paris and Berlin, of Stockholm and St. Peters¬ 
burg, in the learned universities of Germany, Italy, and 
Spain, by every eminent jurist in the civilized world, it will 
be acknowledged that a great luminary has fallen from the 
firmament of public jurisprudence. 

Sir, there is no purer pride of country than that in which 
we may indulge when we see America paying back the great 
debt of civilization, learning, and science to Europe. In 
this high return of light for light and mind for mind, in this 
august reckoning and accounting between the intellects of 
nations, Joseph Story was destined by Providence to act, 
and did act, an important part. Acknowledging, as we all 
acknowledge, our obligations to the original sources of Eng¬ 
lish law, as well as of civil liberty, we have seen in our gen¬ 
eration copious and salutary streams turning and running 
backward, replenishing their original fountains, and giving a 
fresher and a brighter green to the fields of English juris¬ 
prudence. By a sort of reversed hereditary transmission, 
the mother, without envy or humiliation, acknowledges that 
she has received a valuable and cherished inheritance from 
the daughter. The profession in England admits, with 
frankness and candor, and with no feeling but that of respect 
and admiration, that he whose voice we have so recently 
heard within these walls, but shall now hear no more, was, 
of all men who have yet appeared, most fitted by the com¬ 
prehensiveness of his mind, and the vast extent and accuracy 
of his attainments, to compare the codes of nations, to trace 
their differences to difference of origin, climate, or religious 
or political institutions, and to exhibit, nevertheless, their 
27 


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concurrence in those great principles upon which the system 
of human civilization rests. 

Justice, Sir, is the great interest of man on earth. It is 
the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations 
together. Wherever her temple stands, and so long as it is 
duly honored, there is a foundation for social security, general 
happiness, and the improvement and progress of our race. 
And whoever labors on this edifice with usefulness and dis¬ 
tinction, whoever clears its foundations, strengthens its pil¬ 
lars, adorns its entablatures, or contributes to raise its august 
dome still higher in the skies, connects himself, in name, 
and fame, and character, with that which is and must be as 
durable as the frame of human society. 

All know, Mr. Chief Justice, the pure love of country 
which animated the deceased, and the zeal, as well as the 
talent, with which he explained and defended her institu¬ 
tions. His work on the Constitution of the United States is 
one of his most eminently successful labors. But all his 
writings, and all his judgments, all his opinions, and the 
whole influence of his character, public and private, leaned 
strongly and always to the support of sound principles, to the 
restraint of illegal power, and to the discouragement and 
rebuke of licentious and disorganizing sentiments. “ Ad 
rempublicam firmandam, et ad stabiliendas vires, et sanan- 
dum populum, omnis ejus pergebat institutio.” 

But this is not the occasion, Sir, nor is it for me to con¬ 
sider and discuss at length the character and merits of Mr. 
Justice Story, as a writer or a judge. The performance of 
that duty, with which this Bar will no doubt charge itself, 
must be deferred to another opportunity, and will be com¬ 
mitted to abler hands. But in the homage paid to his 
memory, one part may come with peculiar propriety and 
emphasis from ourselves. We have known him in private 
life. We have seen him descend from the bench, and min¬ 
gle in our friendly circles. We have known his manner of 
life, from his youth up. We can hear witness to the strict 
uprightness and purity of his character, his simplicity and 
unostentatious habits, the ease and affability of his inter¬ 
course, his remarkable vivacity amidst severe labors, the 


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cheerful and animating tones of his conversation, and his 
fast fidelity to friends. Some of us, also, can testify to his 
large and liberal charities, not ostentatious or casual, but sys¬ 
tematic and silent — dispensed almost without showing the 
hand, and falling and distilling comfort and happiness, like 
the dews of heaven. But we can testify, also, that in all his 
pursuits and employments, in all his recreations, in all his 
commerce with the world, and in his intercourse with the 
circle of his friends, the predominance of his judicial char¬ 
acter was manifest. He never forgot the ermine which he 
wore. The judge, the judge, the useful and distinguished 
judge, was the great picture which he kept constantly before 
his eyes, and to a resemblance of which all his efforts, all 
his thoughts, all his life, were devoted. 

Mr. Chief Justice, one may live as a conqueror, a king, 
or a magistrate; but he must die as a man. The bed of 
death brings every human being to his pure individuality; to 
the intense contemplation of that deepest and most solemn 
of all relations, the relation between the creature and his 
Creator. Here it is that fame and renown cannot assist us ; 
that all external things must fail to aid us; that even friends, 
affection, and human love and devotedness, cannot succor 
us. This relation, the true foundation of all duty, a rela¬ 
tion perceived and felt by conscience and confirmed by reve¬ 
lation, our illustrious friend, now deceased, always acknowl¬ 
edged. He reverenced the Scriptures of truth, honored the 
pure morality which they teach, and clung to the hopes of 
future life which they impart. He beheld enough in nature, 
in himself, and in all that can be known of things seen, to 
feel assured that there is a Supreme Power, without whose 
providence not a sparrow falleth to the ground. To this 
gracious Being he trusted himself for time and for eternity ; 
and the last words of his lips ever heard by mortal ears 
were a fervant supplication to his Maker to take him to 
himself. 


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SOUTHERN TOUR. 

In the month of May, 1847, Mr. Webster made a visit to the Southern 
Atlantic States. He was every where, on his route, received with great 
respect and cordiality. His intention was to go as far as New Orleans, 
and to return to the North by way of the Mississippi. Unfortunately he 
was taken ill at Augusta, in Georgia, and was thus prevented from con¬ 
tinuing his journey beyond that place. 

RECEPTION AT CHARLESTON, S. C. 

Address delivered from the spacious Piazza of the Hotel , on the 7th of May, 1847 . 

Hon. Franklin H. Elmore, Chairman of the Committee of Recep¬ 
tion, addressed Mr. Webster in a most eloquent and friendly manner, 
and gave him a hearty welcome to the hospitalities of Charleston. 

To this address Mr. Webster replied : — 

Gentlemen, — It would be an act of as great violence to 
my own feelings, as of injustice and ingratitude to the hos¬ 
pitality of the citizens of Charleston, if I should fail to ex¬ 
press my cordial thanks for the welcome you give me in 
their behalf, and to reciprocate, to you and to them, my sin¬ 
cere respect and good wishes. 

You are quite right, Gentlemen, in supposing that my 
purpose, in undertaking the tour which has brought me into 
the midst of you, is to see the country, and the people of 
the country, and to obtain a better and fuller knowledge of 
both. Hitherto, I have not been a visitor so far south ; and 
I was unwilling, quite unwilling, to be longer a stranger, 
personally, in the Southern States. The citizens of Charles¬ 
ton do me an honor, which I most deeply feel, when they 
say, through you, that they have satisfaction in meeting me 
at tbeir own homes, and wish to render my visit agreeable. 
When one is made welcome to the homes of Charleston, I 
am quite aware that the warmth of hospitality can go no 
further. 

Undoubtedly, Gentlemen, differences of opinion on many 
subjects exist between your fellow-citizens and myself, and 
between South Carolina and Massachusetts. But how poor 
must be that spirit, a spirit which I am sure prevails neither 
here nor in Massachusetts, which out of these differences 
would extract cause of social alienation or personal disre- 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER- 


317 


spect! XS hat would be the value of our political institu¬ 
tions, if men might not differ on public questions, without 
sacrificing mutual esteem or destroying the sense of com¬ 
mon brotherhood? We have diverse political sentiments, 
but we have but one country. We may differ as to the best 
manner of serving and honoring that country, but we agree 
that she is to be served by all to the utmost of their power, 
and honored by a4l with filial reverence and patriotic devo¬ 
tion. If we do not always think alike, we all feel alike. 
We feel that much of the individual happiness, as well as 
the national renown, which belongs to us now, or may be¬ 
long to us hereafter, does and M ill attach to us as the undi¬ 
vided, and I hope always the indivisible, members of the 
great American republic. 

I am happy, Gentlemen, if you think that, while dischar¬ 
ging the duties of Secretary of State, I paid just regard to 
the protection of Southern interests. In my judgment, 
those interests, important in themselves, were connected 
with grave questions of public law, questions touching the 
immunity of Hags, and the independence and equality of 
nations upon the ocean. To the magnitude of these ques¬ 
tions I could not be insensible. It is true that they com¬ 
manded my utmost attention; and if the result has been 
greater freedom from annoyance, more security for mari¬ 
time rights, and a general advance in the maintenance of 
peace and the friendly intercourse of nations, I am bound to 
ascribe this result rather to the concurrence of fortunate cir¬ 
cumstances, and to the encouragement and support of others, 
than to any ability displayed in my efforts. 

I concur with you cordially, Gentlemen, in the sentiment, 
that mutual intercourse strengthens mutual regard; and that 
the more citizens of different parts of the country see of 
one another, the more Mill asperities be softened, and differ¬ 
ences reconciled. I may undertake to say, for Massachu¬ 
setts, that she is ready, at all times, to meet and to return 
the respect and the hospitality of South Carolina; and that 
she remembers ancient ties of union and fraternity; that 
she acknowledges a common interest, and a common fate, 
27 * 


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CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


in a common country; that there is nowhere a juster or a 
higher appreciation of the men, or the deeds, of this her 
sister State; and nowhere the prevalence of more earnest 
wishes for whatever may advance her prosperity and dis¬ 
tinction. 

Gentlemen, I come among you, with my family, as trav¬ 
ellers, but not feeling that we are entirely strangers. I wish 
to attract no ostentatious notice, but desire only to be re¬ 
garded as a fellow-countryman and a fellow-citizen, and to 
see the country and the people without formality or con¬ 
straint. 

Thanking you, and the citizens of Charleston, again, for 
the cordial welcome extended to me, it remains that I offer 
you, Gentlemen, personally, the assurance of my high re¬ 
gard ; and to this concourse of your fellow-citizens, which 
now surround us, and whose assembling together, on this 
occasion, I regard as so respectful, and so imperatively de¬ 
manding my grateful acknowledgments, I must tender my 
sincere respects. 

Citizens of Charleston ! I am happy to regard you as 
countrymen. We are born to the same inheritance, won by 
the same patriotism and the same valor. New England 
blood has moistened the soil where we now stand, shed as 
readily as at Lexington, or Concord, or Bunker Hill. May 
it prove a durable cement of the union of our respective 
States! And may many generations, now far off, find them¬ 
selves, when they arrive, as we now find ourselves, a free, 
respectable, united, and prosperous community ! I pray you, 
Gentlemen, accept my sincere good wishes for you all. 


DINNER OF THE NEW ENGLAND SOCIETY. 

Speech delivered on the 8th of May, 1847, in St. Andrew's Hall, Charleston , S. C. 

A. S. Willington, Esq., presided. 

After a toast from the chair in honor of Massachusetts and South 
Carolina, Hon. B. F. Hunt, one of the Vice Presidents of the day, 
made a most eloquent address, and concluded,— 

“ Mr. President and Gentlemen, I offer as a toast, — 



SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


319 


“ Our guest: He has a heart large enough to comprehend his whole 
country —a head wise enough to discern her best interests; we cheer 
him on his way to view her in all her various aspects, well assured that, 
the more he sees of her, the better he will like her.” 

This address and sentiment having been received with loud and re¬ 
peated cheers and applause, Mr. Webster rose and replied: — 

Gentlemen, — I am bound to say a few words in ac¬ 
knowledgment of the numerous kind things which have been 
said by the gentleman who has just addressed you, and the 
kind manner in which they have been received by the com¬ 
pany. In answer to the testimonials of respect and the high 
compliments so eloquently paid me by my New England 
friend, I must be permitted to say, that it is a high source 
of gratification to me to find myself in the city of Charles¬ 
ton, the long-renowned and hospitable city of the South, 
among those whom I regard as fellow-countrymen, and who 
look upon me in the same light. The marks of respect and 
affection thus tendered have penetrated my heart with the 
most grateful emotions. Colonel Hunt has been pleased, 
with much propriety and eloquence, to refer to that great 
instrument of government, the Constitution, and to speak 
of it in terms habitual to, and expressive of the sentiment 
of, all American bosoms. Whatever difference of opinion 
may exist with regard to some of its purposes, all agree 
that it is the basis of our liberty, the cement of our Union, 
and the source of our national prosperity and renown. 
True, the cardinal principle of that instrument and the 
interpretation of some of its provisions have, at times, led 
to agitating discussions and dangerous excitements, but every 
thing is now calm and repose, and 

“ All the clouds that lowered upon our house 
In the deep bosom, of the ocean buried.” 

I take great pleasure, Sir, in marking the wise choice that 
the sons of New England around me have made, in coming 
to this State. I trust they were not very badly off at home, 
but they appear to be exceedingly comfortable here. Since 
“ the loud torrent and the whirlwind’s roar ” did not “ bind 
them to their native mountains more,” they have not only 


320 


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acted wisely iti coming hither, but, if they must make a 
change, I really think they could not have made a better. 

Where on this continent is there a higher freedom of 
social enjoyment, or a more ready extension of the relations 
of private friendship and the courtesies of refined society, 
than in this city and State ? Nor can I forbear a tribute to 
the intelligence, enterprise, and hospitality of the citizens 
of Charleston, where the exiled and the oppressed of the 
earth, and the victims of religious persecution, the Huguenot 
as well as the Puritan, have ever found a sanctuary and a 
home; whither, as the name of this hall instructs us,* the 
enterprising North-British merchant resorts in the prosecu¬ 
tion of business, and for convivial enjoyment; and where 
that other people, the hapless sons of Ireland, in our day 
the subjects of so much suffering, and to whose relief the 
whole of our land, both North and South, are now hasten¬ 
ing with one heart and one purse, have also gathered as the 
home of the oppressed. 

My friend has been pleased, in speaking of my public 
services, to refer to my influence over recent negotiations, 
connected with the preservation of the peace of the earth. 
Our true national policy is a policy of peace. I have not 
felt, for many years, that it is at all necessary for us to 
make further displays of prowess in arms in order to secure 
us an enduring national renown. There is no danger that 
we shall be underrated in the scale of nations, by any defect 
in this particular. With these views, I have in my public 
course directed my best efforts to promote the peace of the 
world, deeming that policy best for the honor and prosper¬ 
ity of our land, and in closest conformity to the benign pre¬ 
cepts of Christianity and the humane spirit of modern civil¬ 
ization. 

In reference to this policy, I can bear testimony to the 
able and honorable bearing of the distinguished sons of 
South Carolina in the councils of the nation. On all the 
great questions of peace and war, and other questions of 
national interest, that have been discussed in the halls of 


* St. Andrew’s Hall. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


321 


legislation, they have been arrayed on the side of the coun¬ 
try, and a large debt of gratitude is their due. 

It is natural on an occasion like’ this to reflect on the ad¬ 
vantages to be derived from free intercourse between the 
inhabitants of the various sections of the Union, and on the 
importance of personal communication, to enable us to see 
and know more of one another, convinced as I am, that, the 
more we see and know of each other, the higher will be our 
mutual appreciation, the greater will be our deference for 
each other’s judgments and opinions, and that, by cultivating 
reciprocal feelings of kindness and courtesy, the stronger 
will be our ties of fraternal peace and concord, the stronger 
the great bond of union which holds us together as United 
States. These considerations are especially applicable in 
this era of developments so favorable to transportation and 
conveyance, in which distance is so much less measured than 
formerly by space than time. 

Nobody, Sir, will expect a set speech from me at this 
social board. I have had enough of such speeches else¬ 
where. I feel that it would be entirely out of keeping with 
the unceremonious character of the occasion to inflict on 
the company a formal address. Enough has been already 
said by me; and it only remains for me to tender my most 
earnest and cordial good wishes for the happiness and pros¬ 
perity of the citizens of Charleston and the people of South 
Carolina. 

Mr. Webster concluded with the following toast: — 

The people of South Carolina: Distinguished for their 
hospitality and high social virtues, as much so as for the 
great names which, at all times, they have given to the pub¬ 
lic service of the country. 

This toast was acknowledged by General Hamilton, who, after a very 
interesting speech, concluded by offering:— 

“ The memory of Robert Y. Hayne: A champion worthy to have con¬ 
tended with Daniel Webster, and to have borne on high the glorious ban¬ 
ner of our State.” 

This toast was drank standing and in silence. On the company be¬ 
ing again seated, Mr. Webster rose and said, — 


32*2 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


The gentleman who has just taken his seat has anticipated 
me in the tribute he has paid to the memory of his friend, 
in what I intended to say in the course of the evening. I 
cordially concur, from the bottom of my heart, in every 
sentiment he has so eloquently and feelingly uttered. If it 
was my fortune to be opposed to that gentleman in debate, 
on an important national question, it only gave me a better 
opportunity of recognizing his very eminent ability, which 
was not even surpassed by his gentlemanly accomplishments. 
I am happy in this assembly to have an opportunity of bear¬ 
ing testimony to his elevated patriotism, his high honor, and 
incorruptible integrity. No one out of the circle of his im¬ 
mediate relatives and friends more sincerely sympathized in 
the great public loss that his death occasioned. With this 
appreciation, we can then well afford to offer another tribute 
to his distinguished worth. I will give you 

The memory of Robert Y. Hayne : A gentleman of cour¬ 
teous and polished manners, of irreproachable life, a lawyer 
of distinction and eminence, a statesman of ability and talent, 
and a highly-favored son of his native State. 


RECEPTION AT COLUMBIA, S. C. 

Abridged from the Columbia South Carolinian of the 17 th of May, 1847. 

Hon. Daniel Webster (accompanied by his family) visited our 
town last week. He was received with such honors and hospitalities, 
public and private, as is suitable to tender to one who fills so eminent a 
position in our Union. On arriving, he repaired to the mansion of his 
friend the Hon. Wm. C. Preston, President of the South Carolina Col¬ 
lege, (whose more especial guest he was,) and in the course of the even¬ 
ing was greeted by several hundred ladies and gentlemen, who had been 
invited to meet him. 

The College buildings and grounds were brilliantly illuminated by the 
students. 

On Friday, at 2 o’clock, Mr. Webster repaired to Clark’s Hotel, to re¬ 
ceive such of our citizens as might be disposed to make acquaintance 
with him. Here he was addressed, in behalf of the town authorities, 
by W. F. De Saussure, Esq., to whom he replied in suitable terms. 

The students of the College having held a meeting, and appointed a 
committee to tender to Mr. Webster their respects and congratulations, 



SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


323 


at four o’clock he repaired to the chapel, where Mr. Farrow, of the 
Senior Class, made to him the following exceedingly well-composed 
address : — 

“ Honorable Sir, — Allow me, in the name of my fellow-students 
of the South Carolina College, to present you the assurance of their sin¬ 
cere pleasure at being honored with your presence on this occasion. 
Conscious we are that our humble tribute can add but little either to 
your pleasure or your fame. But taught from infancy to respect worth, 
we could not be silent when we see in our midst one in whom are blended 
the finished scholar, the able statesman, the pure patriot; one ‘whose 
fame can no more be hemmed in by State lines,’ than the consecrated 
histories of Boston, Bunker Hill, and Lexington. However warm may 
be our gratitude to those who sustain our country’s honor on the battle 
field, we are not forgetful of those whose names are interwoven in the 
history of the councils of state and the debates of senates. And whilst 
we weave a willing wreath around the victor’s brow, we equally offer the 
homage of our hearts and our understandings to men illustrious as you 
are, Sir, in civil life. Be assured, Sir, on our part, of a most hearty 
welcome amongst us.” 

To which Mr. Webster replied : — 

Young Gentlemen of the South Carolina Col¬ 
lege, — I thank you for the manner in which you have been 
pleased to receive me, and for the respect which you have 
manifested. You are of the generation which is to come 
after us, and your judgments are to form part of the opinion 
of posterity, in respect to those who are now active in the 
scenes of life. It will be happy for me, if the mature sen¬ 
timents of your manhood shall correspond with those thus 
expressed in your youth. 

My young friends, I may well congratulate you on your 
present condition, and your prospects. You are members 
of a flourishing institution. You enjoy the teachings of a 
learned faculty, with a name at its head beloved in private 
life, highly distinguished in public life, and which confers 
grace as well as usefulness on these academic groves. Pri¬ 
vate and family affections cluster round you all; a thousand 
hopes are cherished for you; all good auspices hover over 
you. Every one of you may take to himself, in this respect, 
the language of the poet, — 


“ Non sine Dis animosus infans.” 


324 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


Let me, then, say to each of you, “ Carpe diem.” Art is 
long and science is profound, and literature, in our day, is 
various and extensive. But you have youth, and health, and 
the means of culture and improvement, and can accomplish 
great objects. With you it is the bright and breezy morn 
of life. A long day, I trust, is before you. Let me advise 
you to be early in prosecuting the great work, which in that 
day is to be done. Like the morning of the natural day, 
let the morning of life begin with devotion to the Great 
Giver of all good ; and let every succeeding hour of that 
life be filled with acts of duty, and friendship, and private 
and public beneficence. The evening of such life will be 
full of hopes for a better ; and all will be cheered and con¬ 
soled by 

“ that which should accompany old age, 

As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends.” 


Young Gentlemen, all my good wishes attend you ! May 
you here sow, with liberal broadcast, the seeds of a future 
harvest of honor to yourselves, gratification to your friends, 
and usefulness to your country ! 


RECEPTION AT SAVANNAH. 

Speech delivered on the 26iA of May, 1847, in Monument Square, at Savannah, Oa. 

Agreeably to previous arrangements, at eleven o’clock, the com¬ 
mittee of thirteen waited upon Mr. Webster, at his lodgings, and escorted 
him to the platform erected against the Greene and Pulaski monument, 
in Monument Square. A large audience of both sexes was in attendance. 

Mr. Justice Wayne addressed Mr. Webster in behalf of the people of 
Savannah, and bade him welcome to the city, and as he said, “We mean 
it to be a hearty welcome.” 

Mr. Webster replied : — 

Sir, — I beg you to believe me duly sensible of the re¬ 
spect paid me by the citizens of Savannah. They have 
appointed a committee to welcome me, composed of distin¬ 
guished citizens, and placed at its head a gentleman well 
known to myself personally and to the public, as filling with 
equal honor to himself and the country the high station of 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


325 


an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United 
States. 

The topics alluded to in the address just delivered are of 
great and permanent importance. At their head stands that 
of the Union of the States, and the Constitution. To such 
parts of the address as are complimentary to myself, I can 
of course, beyond the expression of my thanks, make no 
reply. What most becomes me, certainly, in this respect, is 
a grateful and respectful silence. 

Allow me to say, that no more than justice is done me, in 
ascribing to me a steady adhesion to the Union of the States, 
upon the principles and according to the provisions of the 
Constitution. 

I have made this present tour, which has proved so de¬ 
lightful to me while enjoying it, and which will leave so 
many pleasant reminiscences to dwell upon after my return, 
for the purpose of visiting those younger sisters of the family 
of the Old Thirteen whom I had not before known. I 
heartily rejoice that I have done so, for the reception which 
has welcomed me has proved that we of the North and the 
South are still brethren in feeling, and members of the same 
great political family, bound together by the articles of agree¬ 
ment in our glorious Constitution. He must be a presump¬ 
tuous man indeed, who would venture to think that he could 
suggest any new features of improvement*)!* in any way im¬ 
prove our present form of united government. By its pro¬ 
visions and compromises I stand, as I have ever stood, and 
woe to the meddling politicians who would assail them in 
the hope of getting surer and safer guaranties for State 
rights and State institutions. In itself it is already complete 
and perfect; any change could only result in marring the 
harmony of its separate parts. The Constitution was the 
result of concessions and compromises. It gave to the gen¬ 
eral government certain specific rights and duties, and it left 
to the States the free exercise of their own appropriate 
rights, and the unrestricted enjoyment of their own laws and 
the control of their own social institutions. It has stood the 
test of experience, and proved itself capable, under a wise 
administration, of carrying forward the prosperity of the 
28 


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CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


country. Our duty is to be content with the Constitution as 
it is , to resist all changes from whatever quarter, to preserve 
its original spirit and original purpose, and to commend it, 
as it is, to the care of those who are to come after us. 

You have alluded, Sir, to the spot where we stand, and 
the monument which rises before us. It reminds us, indeed, 
of the days of the Revolution, when State called upon State 
for aid in the cause of independence. What citizen of Mas¬ 
sachusetts can forget the noble response of Georgia to her 
call ? Georgia was then far distant; the wonder-working 
agency of the telegraph, that annihilates space, was then un¬ 
dreamed of, and long and weary miles of wilderness inter¬ 
vened between the oldest and the youngest of the original 
Thirteen. But the call was heard and answered. The 
blood of New England, in her turn, was freely poured out 
upon Southern soil, and her sons stood shoulder to shoulder 
with those of Georgia in the common cause. Sons and 
grandsons of those patriots, whom I now address ! Georgians ! 
shall we not cherish the recollection of those common suf¬ 
ferings and common dangers, and make them the incentives 
towards establishing a more perfect harmony between their 
descendants 1 Those whom the dangers and perils of war 
could not sever, peace should not separate. 

Others may value this union of confederated States as a 
convenience, or an arrangement or a compromise of inter¬ 
ests ; but I desire to see an attachment to the Union existing 
among the people, not as a deduction of political economy, 
nor as a result of philosophical reasoning, but cherished as 
a heartfelt sentiment. I wish to see that attachment extended 
from one extremity of this confederacy to the other, not by 
telegraphic communications alone, but through the medium 
of American sympathies acting upon the American heart. 
Massachusetts, it is true, cannot vie with Georgia in fertility 
of soil, abundance of resources, or the boundless facilities 
of internal improvement, which will render her, at no distant 
day, one of the mightiest of our confederated States. Seven 
States like Massachusetts might be carved out of Georgia, 
and yet abundant room be left for the formation of another 
State. The natural products of Massachusetts (as a South 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


327 


ern statesman once said) are granite and ice. Many of 
these stately buildings that tower above me are, I doubt not, 
indebted to Massachusetts for the granite upon which they 
are reared. Your lines of railroads, even now stretching 
almost to the foot of your mountain ranges, beds of entire 
granite, will soon deprive her of that privilege; but our 
hyperborean winters will long give us the monopoly of 
the other article of export, and if we are not destined to be 
your “ hewers of wood and drawers of water,” we shall at 
least be your “ hewers of ice and coolers of water” 

Never before was I so forcibly impressed with the mighty 
influence of that great modern discovery, steam power, as 
an engine of improvement, as when, during my journey 
hither, I witnessed the passage of the long train of cars 
through the dense and gloomy pine forests of your interior, 
self-moved by an inner power which gave no visible signs of 
its existence and left no trace behind it, cleaving those soli¬ 
tudes as a bird cuts the air, but urged by a power that could 
know no weariness and whose energies never flagged. It 
was a most impressive lesson of the might of man in re¬ 
moving natural impediments from his path of progressive 
improvement. 

Knowing, as I do, the rapid march of improvement in 
your State, that you have already upwards of seven hundred 
miles of railroad completed, and much more projected, I 
cannot but reflect upon the great destinies open to the peo¬ 
ple of Georgia if they will but improve the opportunities 
within their power. 

This mighty agent, steam, is the handmaid of improve¬ 
ments almost beyond contemplation. Each day develops 
new blessings to be derived from it. It lessens labor, it 
economizes time, it gives the poor man leisure and ability to 
travel, it joins together the most remote regions, and brings 
their inhabitants face to face, establishing a harmony of in¬ 
terest and feeling between them. It limits all distinctions 
The poor and the rich, the prince and the peasant, enjoy 
now equal facilities of travel, and can procure the same 
comforts and luxuries from distant points, and, when they 
travel, they sit side by side in the same rail car. The in- 


328 


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dividual is sinking, and the mass rising up in the majesty of 
a common manhood. For a long time after the discovery 
and use of this potent agent, it was thought only applicable 
to navigation, and this prejudice retarded the march of im¬ 
provements, which it might have expedited. For a long 
series of years a communication between the waters of the 
Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, through the peninsula of 
Florida, has been thought desirable; but this prejudice pre¬ 
vented it, as a canal was considered necessary for that pur¬ 
pose. But railroads are now taking the place of canals, and 
the completion of a south-western railroad from Savannah to 
Pensacola is only needed to make those two cities respec¬ 
tively the most prosperous in the South, uniting as it would 
the best seaport on the Southern Atlantic coast, with almost 
the only good harhor on the Mexican Gulf. 

Five and twenty years ago, from my place in Congress, I 
pressed this matter, but the times were not ripe for it then. 
Now it may be and ought to be carried out, and I pledge to 
this assembly all the aid and influence that I possess in car¬ 
rying it into execution, as of infinite value to Georgia and 
the entire Union. 

With a graceful and impressive farewell to the audience who had hon¬ 
ored him with their presence and approbation, Mr. Webster, amidst 
tumultuous applause, concluded his eloquent address, of which our 
meagre sketch is but the faint reflection. 


FESTIVAL OF THE SONS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

The Festival was holden on the 7th of November, 1849, in the large 
hall of the Fitchburg Railway Company, in Boston. Mr. Webster 
officiated as president of the day. About fifteen hundred persons took 
part in the festival. 

Mr. Webster addressed the meeting. 

Residents of Boston and its vicinity, native born of New 
Hampshire ! we meet here to-day in honor of our native 
State, to commemorate and record our grateful affection for 
her; to acknowledge the obligation which we all feel for 
her care and nurture in our early days. Coming into this, 



SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


329 


another State, we have not brought away with us all our 
affections, or all our attachments. 

We have invited to meet us many distinguished citizens 
of New Hampshire. They have answered our invitation, 
and have come in numbers. It may be considered properly 
the duty of the place 1 occupy to bid them, one and all, wel¬ 
come. Welcome, ye of New Hampshire origin, from every 
part and quarter of our native State ! If you come from 
the pleasant valleys of the Connecticut and Merrimack, wel¬ 
come ! Are you from the sea shore and the lakes of Straf¬ 
ford 1 welcome ! Come ye from the Monadnock and the 
sides of the Crystal Hills ? welcome ! welcome ! welcome ! 

Gentlemen, all the world admits that identity of local 
origin is a tie of connection and sympathy, especially if it 
be strengthened by early association, by the meeting with 
one another in the school house, and in the society of early 
life. In the morning of life, the heart opens all its sympa¬ 
thies to those around it, and receives impressions which are 
deep and lasting. We have migrated from one State to 
another. Our migration has not, indeed, been far. Nor 
have we come among strangers ; nor have we had a new 
tongue to learn, new principles to imbibe, new courses of life to 
pursue ; but, nevertheless, we have changed our allegiance ; 
we have changed our citizenship ; we have changed our social 
relations. New Hampshire men once in all these respects, 
we have ceased to be New Hampshire men now in every 
thing but grateful remembrance and affection for the past. 

To-day we meet, to resume, for the time, the feelings 
which belong to us, as citizens of New Hampshire ; to 
put on the New Hampshire character, and see how well it 
may fit us here, in the metropolis of the State to which we 
have come. Gentlemen, our lot is propitious; singularly, 
remarkably propitious. We are the native sons of one 
State, we are the adopted children of another, and we 
are proud of both. We desire not to forget whence we 
came, and Heaven forbid that we should forget where we 
are. We have met, I say, to commemorate our native 
State. We value it according to its merits, which we be¬ 
lieve high and honorable. We value it for what Nature has 
28 * 


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conferred upon it, and for what its hardy sons have done for 
themselves. We have not forgotten that its scenery is 
beautiful ; that its skies are all-healthful; that its mountains 
and lakes are surpassingly grand and sublime. If there be 
any thing on this continent, the work of Nature, in hills, 
and lakes, and seas, and woods, and forests, strongly at¬ 
tracting the admiration of all those who love natural scenery, 
it is to be found in our mountain State of New Hampshire. 

It happened to me lately to visit the northern parts of 
the State. It was autumn. The trees of the forests, by the 
discoloration of the leaves, presented one of the most beau¬ 
tiful spectacles that the human eye can rest upon. But the 
low and deep murmur of those forests, the fogs and mists, 
rising and spreading, and clasping the breasts of the moun¬ 
tains, whose heads were still high and bright in the skies,— 
all these indicated that a wintry storm was on the wing ; that 
the spirit of the mountains was stirred, and that ere long the 
voice of tempests would speak. But even this was exciting ; 
exciting to those of us who had been witnesses before of 
such stern forebodings, and exciting in itself, as an exhibition 
of the grandeur of natural scenery. For my part, I felt 
the truth of that sentiment, applied elsewhere and on another 
occasion, that 

“ the loud torrent and the whirlwind’s roar 
But bound me to my native mountains more.” 

Ours is not one of the richest of the States. It does not 
compare with Massachusetts in its facilities of mercantile or 
commercial occupation and enterprise. Its soil is sterile 
and stubborn, but the resolution to subdue it is stubborn also. 
Unrelenting rocks have yielded, and do yield, to unrelenting 
labor; and there are productiveness, and health, and plenty, 
and comfort, over all her hills and among all her valleys. 
Manly strength, the nerved arm of freemen, each one tilling 
his own land, and standing on his own soil, enjoying what 
he earns, and ready to defend it,—these have made all 
comfortable and happy. 

Nor need we be ashamed of her literary, her religious, or 
her social institutions. I have seen, and others of my age 
have seen, the church and the school house rise and stand 


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m the very centre of the forest, and seen them resorted to 
in the midst of winter snows. And where these things lie 
at the foundation and commencement of society, where the 
worship of God, the observance of morals, and the culture 
of the human mind, are springs of action with those who 
take hold of the original forest, to subdue it by strong arms 
and strong muscles, there, depend upon it, the people never 
fail. 

Every where, every where , on her hills and rivers, are 
there school houses. The school house ; who shall speak 
of that throughout New England as it ought to be spoken 
of ? Who shall speak, in proper language, of the wisdom, 
and foresight, and benevolence, and sagacity of our fore¬ 
fathers, in establishing a general system of public instruc¬ 
tion as a great public police for the benefit of the whole, as 
a business in which all are interested ? The world had 
previously seen nothing like it, although some parts of the 
world have since copied from it. But where, when you 
talk of fostering governments, of guardian governments, of 
governments which render to subjects that protection which 
the allegiance of subjects demands,—where is it, I ask, 
that, as here with us, it has come to be a great and funda¬ 
mental proposition, existing before constitutions, that it is 
the duty, the bounden duty, of governments composed by 
the representation of all, to Jay the foundation of the happi¬ 
ness and respectability of society in universal education ? 
If you can tell me such a country out of New England, I 
would be glad to hear of it. I know of none, I have read 
of none. 

Gentlemen, the inhabitants of our New Hampshire moun¬ 
tains were, it must be confessed, from the first, rather in¬ 
clined to the indulgence of a military spirit. I believe that 
this is common to mountainous regions in most parts of the 
world. Scotland and Switzerland show the example of 
hardy, strong men in mountainous regions, attached to war 
and to the chase; and it is not unfortunate in our New 
Hampshire history, that this sentiment, to a considerable 
degree, prevailed. The position of the country and the 
state of the people called for its exercise. We know that 


332 


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New Hampshire was settled, in all its frontier towns, under 
circumstances of the most dangerous and difficult nature 
and character. It was a border State. It bordered on the 
Indians and on the French ; names and nations always 
coupled together in the language of our fathers as common 
enemies to them. This exposed the frontier men, of New 
Hampshire especially, to perpetual war; to perpetual danger 
at least of war, and its frequent occurrence. People forget; 
they forget how lately it is, that the interior, the border 
country of New Hampshire, was settled and reclaimed, and 
made safe from Indian depredation. All the world reads 
that New England is the oldest part of the United States, or 
one of the oldest. It has been looked upon as the longest 
settled. But, in regard to the frontiers of our native State, 
the settlement has been recent. Even up to the time of the 
birth of some of us now living, there was some degree of 
danger from Indian depredations and Indian wars; liability 
to Indian assaults, murders, and burnings. 

Whole generations, at least one entire generation, tilled 
the land and raised their bread with their arms in their 
hands, or in the fields with them at their labor. We do not 
now appreciate the difficulty of those frontier settlements, 
because subsequent prosperity and security have obliterated 
the recollection. 

As one example out of man'y, I might refer to General 
John Stark, well known for his military achievements in all 
the wars of his time; a hunter in peace, a soldier in war; 
and as a soldier, always among the foremost and the bravest. 
And since he is brought to my remembrance, let me dwell 
upon the recollection for a moment. 

General Stark was my neighbor, the neighbor and friend 
of my father. One in a highly important, the other in a 
less distinguished situation, they had seen military service 
together, and had met the enemy in the same field. It was 
in the decline of Stark’s life, comparatively speaking, that 
the Revolutionary war broke out. He entered into it, how¬ 
ever, with all the manliness and all the fervor of his youth¬ 
ful character. Yet, in his advanced age, like other old 
men, he turned back fondly to earlier scenes; and when he 


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333 


spoke of the “war,” lie always meant the old French and 
Indian war. His remembrances were of Canada; of the 
exploits at Crown Point, and Ticonderoga, and Lake George. 
He seemed to think of the Revolution as only a family 
quarrel, in which, nevertheless, he took a warm and decided 
part; but he preferred to talk of the “ war ” in which he 
was taken by the Indians, as he was more than once, I think, 
and carried to Canada. The last time I saw him, he was 
seated around a social fire with his neighbors. As I entered, 
he greeted me, as he always did, with affection ; and I be¬ 
lieve he complimented me on my complexion, which he said 
was like my father’s; and his was such, he said, that no one 
could tell whether he was covered with powder or not. 
The conversation turned, like other conversations among 
country neighbors, upon this man’s condition and that man’s 
condition ; the property of one, and the property of another, 
and how much each was worth. At last, rousing himself 
from an apparent slumber, he said, “ Well, I never knew 
but once what I was worth. In the war, the Indians took 
me, and carried me to Canada, and»sold me to the French 
for forty pounds ; and, as they say a thing is worth what it 
will fetch, I suppose I was worth forty pounds.” 

These are the scenes, ye native born, this is the history, 
ye sons of New Hampshire, of the times and the events that 
brought forth the gallant spirits of our native State into the 
midst of a still more important and more serious conflict, 
which began here in 1775. New Hampshire was then full 
of soldiers; indeed, I may say that the whole of New Eng¬ 
land was full of soldiers, when the Revolutionary war broke 
out. New Hampshire, especially, had hardly any body in it 
that had not been accustomed to bear arms in the previous 
war. As proof of the soldierlike character of our New 
England yeomanry, I may mention a fact which should not 
be forgotten ; that, of all the soldiers, regular and militia, 
which served in the war of independence, Massachusetts 
and New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island, — 
these four little States, which, as you look upon a map of 
the United States, you can cover with your hand, — these 
States furnished more than one half of all the men that 


334 


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achieved our independence. It appears from official and sta¬ 
tistical records, that during the war, in the regular service, 
and in the militia service, from three hundred and seventeen 
to three hundred and twenty thousand men were employed 
in our armies. Of these, New England alone furnished 
more than half. 

Then came the war of the Revolution; it broke out here 
in the State of Massachusetts. Where was New Hampshire 
then 1 Was she alienated from the cause, or from her 
sister State ? No. Neither then, nor at any time in the 
succeeding contest, was her soil subject to the tread of a 
hostile foot. Whether they thought it not worth entering, 
or whether they did not choose to encounter the dwellers in 
her mountains, I do not care to decide. The truth is, no 
enemy trod on the soil of New Hampshire. But when the 
strife began, when the beacon fires were lighted here, ydien 
the march from Boston to Lexington and Concord had 
spread the flames of liberty, who answered to the call ? 
Did New Hampshire need to be summoned to Bunker Hill? 
She came at the first blaze of the beacon fires. None were 
earlier, none more ready, none more valiant. 

I think it is Madame de Stael who says, that “ from the 
mountains of the North there comes nothing but fire and 
the sword.” And on this occasion there did indeed come 
from our native mountains both fire and the sword; not the 
fire of devastation and desolation, not the sword of ruthless 
plunder and massacre, but the fire of Liberty and the 
sword of Patriotism. And how ardently the one burned, 
and how vigorously the other was wielded till the return of 
peace enabled the country to sheathe it and be at rest, let 
the whole history of that country tell. 

Gentlemen, from Bunker Hill to Yorktown, there was 
not a battle in which New Hampshire blood was not shed. 
I may go further yet; and I may say that there is, proba¬ 
bly, of the many hundreds now in this very hall, a repre¬ 
sentative of some New Hampshire officer or soldier who 
fell in every field, and left his bones where he fought his 
battle. The blood, the blood of New Hampshire men, fall¬ 
ing every where, and in every year of the war, in defence 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


335 


of the liberty of the country, is here to-night. I hope it is 
worthy of its descent, and that it will transmit itself unde¬ 
filed to ages, and ages yet to come. 

Those who returned to New Hampshire from that seven 
years’ contest have their graves on the mountain sides and 
along the valleys of their native land; and those graves are 
ever objects of public regard and private affection. 

“ How sleep the brave, who sink to rest, 

By all their country’s wishes blest! 

* * * * * 

And Freedom shall a while repair, 

And dwell, a weeping hermit, there.” 

They are ever pointed out to the passing traveller as the last 
resting-place of the patriotic and the brave ; and they con¬ 
tinue to be watered with the tears of a grateful posterity. 
But, alas ! all did not return. McCIeary, the earliest, or one 
of the earliest, of the New Hampshire victims of the Revolu¬ 
tionary struggle, fell in Charlestown. His blood is mixed 
with the earth upon which yonder monument stands, raising 
its head to the skies, and challenging the respect and admi¬ 
ration of the world, for the spot where a military achieve¬ 
ment was performed, which, in its results, in the long career 
of its consequences, in the great course of events which fol¬ 
lowed it, and their effects upon human happiness and human 
liberty, has no parallel in the history of mankind. 

In regard to the military character of her Revolutionary 
heroes, and her early statesmen, and in regard to every thing 
which was done, or ought to have been done, or was ex¬ 
pected to be done, to bring New Hampshire honorably and 
respectably into the great circle of our Union, Gentlemen, I 
leave all this for abler tongues, fresher recollections, and 
more persuasive accents. I sit down myself, filled with pro¬ 
found veneration for the character of my native State, and 
acknowledging to her my own personal debt for her culture 
and nurture, and determined, so far as in me lies, to transmit 
the sense of that obligation to those who shall come after me. 

After many other gentlemen had addressed the company, Mr. Web¬ 
ster again rose, and spoke as follows: — 


336 


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The regular toasts have now been gone through. I have 
occupied this chair as long as it seems to be convenient, and, 
with a few parting words, I propose to resign it to another. 

Gentlemen, departing from the character of particular 
States, leaving for the present the agreeable thoughts that 
have entertained us, of our own homes and our own origin, 
it appears to me, before we part, that it is not improper that 
we should call to our attention the marked character of 
the age in which we live, and the great part that, in the dis¬ 
pensations of Divine Providence, we are called upon to act 
in it. 

To act our part well, as American citizens, as members 
of this great republic, we must understand that part, and 
the duties which it devolves upon us. We cannot expect to 
blunder into propriety, or into greatness of action. We 
must learn the character of the age in which we live, we 
must learn our own place as a great and leading nation in 
that age, we must learn to appreciate justly our own posi¬ 
tion and character, as belonging to a government of a par¬ 
ticular form, and we must act, in every case, and upon all 
subjects, as becomes our relations. 

Now, Gentlemen, I venture to say, here and every where, 
in the face of the world, that there is not on earth any 
country, at the present moment, so interesting as the United 
States. I do not say, no country so strong, so rich, so 
beautiful, so high or commanding; but 1 say, no country so 
interesting , no country that sets such an example before the 
world of self-government, no country around which so many 
hopes and so many fears cluster, no country in regard to 
which the world with so much earnestness inquires, “ What 
will she come to ? ” 

I need not say that we are at the head of this continent. 
Who denies that? Who doubts it? Here are more than 
twenty millions of people, free, commercial, and enterpris¬ 
ing, beyond example. They are spread over an immense 
territory, and that territory has been lately increased by a 
vast and an extraordinary addition. The country stretches 
from sea to sea, across the whole breadth of North America, 
and from the tropics to the great lakes and rivers of the 
North. 


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337 


Forty or fifty years ago, an American poet said to his 
countrymen, — 

“ No pent-up Utica contracts our powers, 

For the whole boundless continent is ours.” 

This was poetic ; but the poetry has been advancing, and is 
still advancing, more and more, to sober truth and reality. 

But this is not all, nor is it the most important point. We 
are brought by steam, and the improvements attendant upon 
its discovery, into the immediate neighborhood of the great 
powers of Europe, living under different forms of govern¬ 
ment ; forms in which the aristocratic, or the despotic, or 
the monarchical element prevails. The United States, the 
second commercial country in the world, whose intercourse 
affects every other country, have entered the circle, and are 
become the immediate neighbors of them all. And what is 
expected to be the consequence of this proximity, this conti¬ 
guity, this bringing the republican practice into the imme¬ 
diate presence of despotism, monarchy, and aristocracy ? 
This is the philosophical view which attracts the attention 
of the observant part of mankind most strongly, and strikes 
us with the greatest power. What is to be the result ? 

Gentlemen, between us and the governments of Europe 
there is no political connection. They have their systems, 
and we have ours ; but then their interests and ours ap¬ 
proach, and sometimes coincide. Commercial interests are 
mingling together all over the civilized world. The infor- 
mation of mankind is becoming common to all nations, and 
the general tone of sentiment common, in learned circles, 
and among the masses of intelligent men. In matters of 
science, taste, commerce, in questions of right and justice, 
and matters of judicial administration, we think very much 
alike. But in regard to the origin of government, the form 
of government, and, in some cases, the end and objects of 
government, we differ. And yet it is certain that, of all 
human institutions, government is the chief, and by far the 
most important; and as the press, at least to a very great 
extent, in modern times, is free, government, its origin, its 
forms, its duties, its ends and objects, and its practical 
29 


338 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


administration, are every where a constant subject of discus¬ 
sion. Now that steam has created such a daily intercourse, 
and brought countries so much nearer together, men cf one 
nation seem to talk to those of another, on political subjects, 
as on other subjects, almost like inhabitants of the same city, 
or the same county. This is a condition of things novel 
and interesting, and worthy of our reflection. In national 
relations, we sustain a rank, we hold a certain place, and we 
have high duties to perform. Of course it is our duty to 
abstain from all interference in the political affairs of other 
countries. But then there is one thing which we are bound 
to do. We are bound to show to the whole world, in the 
midst of which we are placed, that a regular, steady, con¬ 
servative government, founded on broad, popular, represen¬ 
tative systems, is a practicable thing. We are bound to 
show, that there may be such a government, not merely for 
a small, but for a great country, in which life and property 
shall be secure, religion and the worship of the Deity ob¬ 
served, good morals cultivated, commerce and the arts en¬ 
couraged, and the general prosperity of all classes maintained 
and advanced. 

It strikes me, and I repeat the sentiment only to show the 
strength of my own conviction, that our great destiny on 
earth is to exhibit the practicability of good, safe, secure, 
popular governments; to prove, and I hope we do prove, 
that there may be security for property, and for personal 
rights, that there may be provision for the maintenance of 
religion and morals, for an extensive diffusion of knowledge, 
and for carrying all branches of education and culture to 
their highest pitch, by means of institutions founded on re¬ 
publican principles. The prophecies and the poets are with 
us. Every body knows Bishop Berkeley’s lines, written a 
hundred years ago : — 

“ There shall be sung another golden age, 

The rise of empire and of arts ; 

The good and great inspiring epic rage, 

The wisest heads and noblest hearts. 

“ Westward the course of empire takes its way ; 

The four first acts already past, 

A fifth shall close the drama with the day : 

Time’s noblest offspring is the last.” 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


339 


And at a more recent period, but still when there was noth¬ 
ing to be seen in this vast North American continent but a 
few colonial settlements, another English poet suggests to his 
country, that she shall see a great nation, her own offspring, 
springing up, with wealth, and power, and glory, in the New 
World: — 

“ In other lands, another Britain see; 

And what thou art, America shall be.” 


But, in regard to this country, there is no poetry like the 
poetry of events; and all the prophecies lag behind their 
fulfilment. 

That is the doctrine which you, and I, of America, are 
bound to teach. Does any body doubt that, on this broad, 
popular platform, there exists now, in these United States, a 
safe government 1 Tell me where there is one safer. Or 
tell me of any on the face of the Old World on which pub¬ 
lic faith is more confidently reposed. I say the government 
of the United States is one of the safest. I do not know 
how long it may be before it will become one of the oldest 
governments in the world. 

We are in an age of progress. That progress is towards 
self-government by the enlightened portion of the commu¬ 
nity, every where. And the great question is, how this im¬ 
pulse can be carried on, without running to excess; how 
popular government can be established, without falling into 
licentiousness. That is the great question, and we have seen 
how difficult it is, by those not taught in the school of expe¬ 
rience, to establish such a system. 

It is a common sentiment uttered by those who would 
revolutionize Europe, that, to be free, men have only to will 
it. That is a fallacy. There must be prudence and a bal¬ 
ancing of departments, and there must be persons who will 
teach the science of free, popular governments; and there 
are but few, except in this country, who can teach that 
science. We have arrived at this ability by an experience 
of two hundred years. And how has it come 1 Why, we 
are an offshoot of the British constitution. In that consti¬ 
tution there is a popular element, that is, a representation of 


340 


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the people. This element is there mixed up with the mo¬ 
narchical and the aristocratic elements. But our ancestors 
brought with them no aristocracy, and no monarchical rule, 
except a general submission and allegiance to the crown of 
England. Their immediate government was altogether a 
popular representation ; and the country has been thoroughly 
trained, and schooled, in the practice of such a government. 

To abide by the voice of the representatives fairly chosen, 
by the edicts of those who make the legislative enactments, 
has been and is our only system. From the first settlement 
of the colony at Plymouth, through all our subsequent his¬ 
tory, we have adhered to this principle. We threw off the 
power of the king, and we never admitted the power of the 
Parliament. That was the doctrine of Adams and Jeffer¬ 
son. That was the reason why the Parliament was not al¬ 
luded to in the Declaration of Independence. The Colonies 
acknowledged the power of the crown, but never having 
acknowledged the authority of the Parliament, they dis¬ 
dained to give any reason for throwing it off. 

When the Revolution severed us from the mother country, 
we had nothing to do but to go on with our elections, sup¬ 
plying the governors no longer appointed by the crown by 
our own election, thus making the whole government popular, 
and to proceed as at first. It was in this way that the Colo¬ 
nies of Connecticut and Rhode Island were enabled, down 
to a very late period, to continue their ancient constitutions. 

If you look any where, beside at France, on the conti¬ 
nent of Europe, can you find any thing that bears the aspect 
of a representative government ? There is nothing. It is 
very difficult to establish a free conservative government for 
the equal advancement of all the interests of society. What 
has Germany done, learned Germany, fuller of ancient lore 
than all the world beside 1 What has Italy done, what have 
they done who dwell on the spot where Cicero and Cato 
lived 1 They have not the power of self-government which 
a common town meeting with us possesses. 

Yes, I say that those persons who have gone from our 
town meetings to dig gold in California, are more fit to 
make a republican government than any body of men in 


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341 


Germany or Italy, because they have learned this one great 
lesson, that there is no security without law, and that, under 
the circumstances in which they are placed, where there is 
no military authority to overawe them, there is no sovereign 
will but the will of the majority; that therefore, if they re¬ 
main, they must submit to that will. 

It is the prevalence of this general sentiment of obedi¬ 
ence to law, — that they must have representatives, and that, 
if they be fairly chosen, their edicts must stand for law, — it 
is the general diffusion of this opinion that enables our peo¬ 
ple every where to govern themselves. Where they have 
our habits, you will find that they will establish government 
upon the foundation of a free, popular constitution, and 
nothing else. 

Now I think, Gentlemen, that while we prescribe no 
forms, while we dictate to nobody, our mission is to show 
that a constitutional, representative, conservative govern¬ 
ment, founded on the freest possible principles, can do, can 
do , for the advancement of general morals and the general 
prosperity, as much as any other government can do. 


THE CONSTITUTION AND THE UNION. 

Speech delivered in the Senate of the United States, on the 7th cf March, 1850. 

On the 25th of January, 1850, Mr. Clay submitted a series of resolu¬ 
tions to the Senate, on the subject of slavery, in connection with the 
various questions which had arisen in consequence of the acquisition of 
Mexican territory. On Wednesday, the 6th of March, Mr. Walker, of 
Wisconsin, engaged in the discussion, but was unable to finish his argu¬ 
ment. In the mean time, it had been generally understood that Mr. 
Webster would, at an early day, take an opportunity of addressing the 
Senate on the present aspect of the slavery question, on the dangers to 
the Union of the existing agitation, and on the terms of honorable ad¬ 
justment. On Thursday, the 7th of March, at 12 o’clock, the special 
order of the day was announced, and the Vice President stated that Mr. 
Walker, of Wisconsin, was entitled to the floor. That gentleman, how¬ 
ever, rose and said, — 

“ Mr. President, this vast audience has not come together to hear me, 
and there is but one man, in my opinion, who can assemble such an 
audience. They expect to hear him, and I feel it to be my duty, there- 
29 * 



342 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


fore, as it is mv pleasure, to give the floor to the Senator from Massa¬ 
chusetts. I understand it is immaterial to him upon which of these 
questions he speaks, and, therefore, I will not move to postpone the 
special order.” 

Mr. Webster then rose, and, after making his acknowledgments to the 
Senators from Wisconsin, (Mr. Walker,) and New York, (Mr. Seward,) 
for their courtesy in yielding the floor to him, addressed the Senate. 

Mr. President, — I wish to speak to-day, not as a Mas¬ 
sachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an Ameri¬ 
can, and a member of the Senate of the United States. It 
is fortunate that there is a Senate of the United States; a 
body not yet moved from its propriety, not lost to a just 
sense of its own dignity and its own high responsibilities, 
and a body to which the country looks, with confidence, for 
wise, moderate, patriotic, and healing counsels. It is not to 
be denied that we live in the midst of strong agitations, and 
are surrounded by very considerable dangers to our institu¬ 
tions and government. The imprisoned winds are let loose. 
The East, the North, and the stormy South combine to 
throw the whole sea into commotion, to toss its billows to 
the skies, and disclose its profoundest depths. I do not 
affect to regard myself, Mr. President, as holding, or as fit 
to hold, the helm in this combat with the political elements; 
but I have a duty to perform, and I mean to perform it with 
fidelity, not without a sense of existing dangers, but not 
without hope. I have a part to act, not for my own secu¬ 
rity or safety, for I am looking out for no fragment upon 
which to float away from the wreck, if wreck there must 
be, but for the good of the whole, and the preservation of 
all; and there is that which will keep me to my duty dur¬ 
ing this struggle, whether the sun and the stars shall appear, 
or shall not appear for many days. I speak to-day for the 
preservation of the Union. “ Hear me for my cause.” I 
speak to-day, out of a solicitous and anxious heart, for the 
restoration to the country of that quiet and that harmony 
which make the blessings of this Union so rich, and so dear 
to us all. These are the topics that I propose to myself to 
discuss; these are the motives, and the sole motives, that 
influence me in the wish to communicate my opinions to the 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


343 


Senate and the country; and if I can do any thing, how¬ 
ever little, for the promotion of these ends, I shall have ac¬ 
complished all that I expect. 

Mr. President, it may not be amiss to recur very briefly 
to the events which, equally sudden and extraordinary, have 
brought the country into its present political condition. In 
May, 1846, the United States declared war against Mexico. 
Our armies, then on the frontiers, entered the provinces of 
that republic, met and defeated all her troops, penetrated 
her mountain passes, and occupied her capital. The marine 
force of the United States took possession of her forts and 
her towns, on the Atlantic and on the Pacific. In less than 
two years a treaty was negotiated, by which Mexico ceded 
to the United States a vast territory, extending seven or 
eight hundred miles along the shores of the Pacific, and 
reaching back over the mountains, and across the desert, 
until it joins the frontier of the State of Texas. It so hap¬ 
pened, in the distracted and feeble condition of the Mexican 
government, that, before the declaration of war by the 
United States against Mexico had become known in Cali¬ 
fornia, the people of California, under the lead of Ameri¬ 
can officers, overthrew the existing Mexican provincial gov¬ 
ernment, and raised an independent flag. When the news 
arrived at San Francisco that war had been declared by the 
United States against Mexico, this independent flag was 
pulled down, and the stars and stripes of this Union hoisted 
in its stead. So, Sir, before the war was over, the forces 
of the United States, military and naval, had possession of 
San Francisco and Upper California, and a great rush of 
emigrants from various parts of the world took place into 
California in 1846 and 1847. But now behold another 
wonder. 

In January of 1848, a party of Mormons made a dis¬ 
covery of an extraordinarily rich mine of gold, or rather of 
a great quantity of gold, hardly proper to be called a mine, 
for it was spread near the surface, on the lovver part of the 
south, or American, branch of the Sacramento. They at¬ 
tempted to conceal their discovery for some time ; but soon 
another discovery of gold, perhaps of greater importance, 


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was made, on another part of the American branch of the 
Sacramento, and near Sutter’s Fort, as it is called. The 
fame of these discoveries spread far and wide. They in¬ 
flamed more and more the spirit of emigration towards Cal¬ 
ifornia, which had already been excited, and adventurers 
crowded into the country by hundreds, and flocked towards 
the Bay of San Francisco. This, as I have said, took 
place in the winter and spring of 1848. The digging com¬ 
menced in the spring of that year, and from that time to 
this the work of searching for gold has been prosecuted 
with a success not heretofore known in the history of this 
globe. You recollect, Sir, how incredulous at first the 
American public was at the accounts which reached us of 
these discoveries; but we all know, now, that these ac¬ 
counts received, and continue to receive, daily confirmation, 
and down to the present moment I suppose the assurance is 
as strong, after the experience of these several months, of 
the existence of deposits of gold apparently inexhaustible 
in the regions near San Francisco, in California, as it was 
at any period of the earlier dates of the accounts. 

It so happened, Sir, that although, after the return of 
peace, it became a very important subject for legislative 
consideration and legislative decision to provide a proper 
territorial government for California, yet differences of opin¬ 
ion between the two houses of Congress prevented the 
establishment of any such territorial government at the last 
session. Under this state of things, the inhabitants of Cali¬ 
fornia, already amounting to a considerable number, thought 
it to be their duty, in the summer of last year, to establish 
a local government. Under the proclamation of General 
Riley, the people chose delegates to a convention, and that 
convention met at Monterey. It formed a constitution for 
the State of California, which, being referred to the people, 
was adopted by them in their primary assemblages. Desi¬ 
rous of immediate connection with the United States, its 
Senators were appointed and Representatives chosen, who 
have come hither, bringing with them the authentic consti¬ 
tution of the State of California; and they now present 
themselves, asking, in behalf of their constituents, that it 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


345 


may be admitted into this Union as one of the United States. 
This constitution, Sir, contains an express prohibition of 
slavery, or involuntary servitude, in the State of California. 
It is said, and I suppose truly, that, of the members who 
composed that convention, some sixteen were natives of, and 
had been residents in, the slaveholding States, about twenty- 
two were from the non-slaveholding States, and the re¬ 
maining ten members were either native Californians or old 
settlers in that country. This prohibition of slavery, it is 
said, was inserted with entire unanimity. 

It is this circumstance, Sir, the prohibition of slavery, 
which has contributed to raise, I do not say it has wholly 
raised, the dispute as to the propriety of the admission of 
California into the Union under this constitution. It is not 
to be denied, Mr. President, nobody thinks of denying, that, 
whatever reasons were assigned at the commencement of 
the late war with Mexico, it was prosecuted for the purpose 
of the acquisition of territory, and under the alleged argu¬ 
ment that the cession of territory was the only form in 
which proper compensation could be obtained by the United 
States from Mexico, for the various claims and demands 
which the people of this country had against that govern¬ 
ment. At any rate, it will be found that President Polk’s 
message, at the commencement of the session of December, 
1847, avowed that the war was to be prosecuted until some 
acquisition of territory should be made. As the acquisition 
was to be south of the line of the United States, in warm 
climates and countries, it was naturally, I suppose, expected 
by the South, that whatever acquisitions were made in that 
region would be added to the slaveholding portion of the 
United States. Very little of accurate information was pos¬ 
sessed of the real physical character, either of California 
or New Mexico, and events have not turned out as was 
expected. Both California and New Mexico are likely 
to come in as free States; and therefore some degree 
of disappointment and surprise has resulted. In other 
words, it is obvious that the question which has so long 
harassed the country, and at some times very seriously 
alarmed the minds of wise and good men, has come upon 


346 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


us for a fresh discussion; the question of slavery in these 
United States. 

Now, Sir, upon the general nature and influence of sla¬ 
very there exists a wide difference of opinion between the 
northern portion of this country and the southern. It is 
said on the one side, that, although not the subject of any 
injunction or direct prohibition in the New Testament, sla¬ 
very is a wrong; that it is founded merely in the right of the 
strongest; and that it is an oppression, like unjust wars, like 
all those conflicts by which a powerful nation subjects a 
weaker to its will; and that, in its nature, whatever may be 
said of it,in the modifications which have taken place, it is 
not according to the meek spirit of the Gospel. It is not 
“ kindly affectioned ; ” it does not “ seek another’s, and not 
its own ; ” it does not “ let the oppressed go free.” These 
are sentiments that are cherished, and of late with greatly 
augmented force, among the people of the Northern States. 
They have taken hold of the religious sentiment of that 
part of the country, as they have, more or less, taken hold 
of the religious feelings of a considerable portion of man¬ 
kind. The South, upon the other side, having been accus¬ 
tomed to this relation between the two races all their lives, 
from their birth, having been taught, in general, to treat the 
subjects of this bondage with care and kindness, and I be¬ 
lieve, in general, feeling great kindness for them, have not 
taken the view of the subject which I have mentionen. 
There are thousands of religious men, with consciences as 
tender as any of their brethren at the North, who do not see 
the unlawfulness of slavery; and there are more thousands, 
perhaps, that, whatsoever they may think of it in its origin, 
and as a matter depending upon natural right, yet take 
things as they are, and, finding slavery to be an established 
relation of the society in which they live, can see no way in 
which, let their opinions on the abstract question be what 
they may, it is in the power of the present generation to re¬ 
lieve themselves from this relation. And candor obliges me 
to say, that I believe they are just as conscientious, many of 
them, and the religious people, all of them, as they are at 
the North who hold different opinions. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


347 


But we must view things as they are. Slavery does exist 
in the United States. It did exist in the States before the 
adoption of this Constitution, and at that time. Let us, 
therefore, consider for a moment what was the state of sen¬ 
timent, North and South, in regard to slavery, at the time 
this Constitution was adopted. A remarkable change has 
taken place since; but what did the wise and great men of 
all parts of the country think of slavery then 1 In what 
estimation did they hold it at the time when this Constitution 
was adopted ? It will be found, Sir, if we will carry our- 
selves by historical research back to that day, and ascertain 
men’s opinions by authentic records still existing among us, 
that there was then no diversity of opinion between the 
North and the South upon the subject of slavery. It will 
be found that both parts of the country held it equally an 
evil, a moral and political evil. It will not be found that, 
either at the North or at the South, there was much, though 
there was some, invective against slavery as inhuman and 
cruel. The great ground of objection to it was political; 
that it weakened the social fabric; that, taking the place of 
free labor, society became less strong and labor less pro¬ 
ductive ; and therefore we find from all the eminent men 
of the time the clearest expression of their opinion that 
slavery is an evil. They ascribed its existence here, not 
without truth, and not without some acerbity of temper and 
force of language, to the injurious policy of the mother 
country, who, to favor the navigator, had entailed these evils 
upon the Colonies. I need hardly refer, Sir, particularly to 
the publications of the day. They are matters of history 
on the record. The eminent men, the most eminent men, 
and nearly all the conspicuous politicians of the South, 
held the same sentiments; that slavery was an evil, a blight, 
a scourge, and a curse. There are no terms of reprobation 
of slavery so vehement in the North at that day as in the 
South. The North was not so much excited against it as 
the South; and the reason is, I suppose, that there was 
much less of it at the North, and the people did not see, or 
think they saw, the evils so prominently as they were seen, 
or thought to be seen, at the South. 


348 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


Then, Sir, when this Constitution was framed, this was 
the light in which the Federal Convention viewed it. That 
body reflected the judgment and sentiments of the great 
men of the South. A member of the other house, whom I 
have not the honor to know, has, in a recent speech, col¬ 
lected extracts from these public documents. They prove 
the truth of what I am saying, and the question then was, 
how to deal with it, and how to deal with it as an evil. 
They came to this general result. They thought that sla¬ 
very could not be continued in the country if the importation 
of slaves were made to cease, and therefore they provided 
that, after a certain period, the importation might be pre¬ 
vented by the act of the new government. The period of 
twenty years was proposed by some gentleman from the 
North, I think, and many members of the Convention from 
the South opposed it as being too long. Mr. Madison espe¬ 
cially was somewhat warm against it. He said it would bring 
too much of this mischief into the country to allow the im¬ 
portation of slaves for such a period. Because we must 
take along with us, in the whole of this discussion, when we 
are considering the sentiments and opinions in which the 
constitutional provision originated, that the conviction of all 
men was, that, if the importation of slaves ceased, the white 
race would multiply faster than the black race, and that 
slavery would therefore gradually wear out and expire. It 
may not be improper here to allude to that, I had almost 
said, celebrated opinion of Mr. Madison. You observe, 
Sir, that the term slave, or slavery, is not used in the Con¬ 
stitution. The Constitution does not require that “ fugitive 
slaves ” shall be delivered up. It requires that persons held 
to service in one State, and escaping into another, shall be 
delivered up. Mr. Madison opposed the introduction of the 
term slave, or slavery, into the Constitution ; for he said that 
he did not wish to see it recognized by the Constitution of 
the United States of America that there could be property 
in men. 

Now, Sir, all this took place in the Convention in 1787; 
but connected with this, concurrent and contemporaneous, is 
another important transaction, not sufficiently attended to. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


349 


The Convention for framing this Constitution assembled in 
Philadelphia in May, and sat until September, 1787. Dur¬ 
ing all that time the Congress of the United States was in 
session at New York. It was a matter of design, as we 
know, that the Convention should not assemble in the same 
city where Congress was holding its sessions. Almost all 
the public men of the country, therefore, of distinction and 
eminence, were in one or the other of these two assemblies; 
and I think it happened, in some instances, that the same 
gentlemen were members of both bodies. If I mistake not, 
such was the case with Mr. Rufus King, then a member of 
Congress from Massachusetts. Now, at the very time when 
the Convention in Philadelphia was framing this Constitu¬ 
tion, the Congress in New York was framing the Ordinance 
of 1787, for the organization and government of the terri¬ 
tory north-west of the Ohio. They passed that Ordinance 
on the 13th of July, 1787, at New York, the very month, 
perhaps the very day, on which these questions about the 
importation of slaves and the character of slavery were de¬ 
bated in the Convention at Philadelphia. So far as we can 
now learn, there was a perfect concurrence of opinion be¬ 
tween these two bodies; and it resulted in this Ordinance 
of 1787, excluding slavery from all the territory over which 
the Congress of the United States had jurisdiction, and that 
was all the territory north-west of the Ohio. Three years 
before, Virginia and other States had made a cession of that 
great territory to the United States; and a most munificent 
act it was. I never reflect upon it without a disposition to 
do honor and justice, and justice would be the highest honor, 
to Virginia, for the cession of her north-western territory. I 
will say, Sir, it is one of her fairest claims to the respect 
and gratitude of the country, and that, perhaps, it is only 
second to that other claim which belongs to her; that from 
her counsels, and from the intelligence and patriotism of her 
leading statesmen, proceeded the first idea put into practice 
of the formation of a general constitution of the United 
States. The Ordinance of 1787 applied to the whole terri¬ 
tory over which the Congress of the United States had juris¬ 
diction. It was adopted two years before the Constitution 
30 


350 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


of the United States went into operation; because the 
Ordinance took effect immediately on its passage, while the 
Constitution of the United States, having been framed, was 
to be sent to the States to be adopted by their Conventions; 
and then a government was to be organized under it. This 
Ordinance, then, was in operation and force when the Con¬ 
stitution was adopted, and the government put in motion, in 
April, 1789. 

This was the state of things, Sir, and this the state of 
opinion, under which those very important matters were ar¬ 
ranged, and those three important things done; that is, the 
establishment of the Constitution of the United States with 
a recognition of slavery as it existed in the States ; the 
establishment of the ordinance for the government of the 
North-western Territory, prohibiting, to the full extent of all 
territory owned by the United States, the introduction of 
slavery into that territory, while leaving to the States all 
power over slavery in their own limits; and creating a 
power, in the new government, to put an end to the impor¬ 
tation of slaves, after a limited period. There was entire 
coincidence and concurrence of sentiment between the 
North and the South, upon all these questions, at the period 
of the adoption of the Constitution. But opinions, Sir, have 
changed, greatly changed; changed North and changed 
South. Slavery is not regarded in the South now as it 
was then. I see an honorable member of this body paying 
me the honor of listening to my remarks ; * he brings to my 
mind, Sir, freshly and vividly, what I have learned of his 
great ancestor, so much distinguished in his day and genera¬ 
tion, so worthy to be succeeded by so worthy a grandson, 
and of the sentiments he expressed in the Convention in 
Philadelphia. 

Here we may pause. There was, if not an entire una¬ 
nimity, a general concurrence of sentiment running through 
the whole community, and especially entertained by the 
eminent men of all parts of the country. But soon a change 
began, at the North and the South, and a difference of opin¬ 
ion showed itself; the North growing much more warm 


Mr. Mason of Virginia. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


351 


and strong against slavery, and the South growing much 
more warm and strong in its support. Sir, there is no gen¬ 
eration of mankind whose opinions are not subject to be in¬ 
fluenced by what appear to them to be their present emergent 
and exigent interests. 1 impute to the South no particularly 
selfish view in the change which has come over her. I im¬ 
pute to her certainly no dishonest view. All that has hap¬ 
pened has been natural. It has followed those causes which 
always influence the human mind and operate upon it. 
What, then, have been the causes which have created so 
new a feeling in favor of slavery in the South, which have 
changed the whole nomenclature of the South on that sub¬ 
ject, so that, from being thought and described in the terms 
I have mentioned and will not repeat, it has now become an 
institution, a cherished institution, in that quarter; no evil, 
no scourge, but a great religious, social, and moral blessing, 
as I think I have heard it latterly spoken of? I suppose 
this, Sir, is owing to the rapid growth and sudden extension 
of the cotton plantations of the South. So far as any mo¬ 
tive consistent with honor, justice, and general judgment 
could act, it was the cotton interest that gave a new desire 
to promote slavery, to spread it, and t(5 use its labor. I 
again say that this change was produced by causes which 
must always produce like effects. The whole interest of 
the South became connected, more or less, with the exten¬ 
sion of slavery. If we look backjto the history of the com¬ 
merce of this country in the early years of this government, 
what were our exports ? Cotton was hardly, or but to a very 
limited extent, known. In 1791 the first parcel of cotton 
of the growth of the United States was exported, and 
amounted only to 19,200 pounds. It has gone on increasing 
rapidly, until the whole crop may now, perhaps, in a season 
of great product and high prices, amount to a hundred mil¬ 
lions of dollars. In the years I have mentioned, there was 
more of wax, more of indigo, more of rice, more of almost 
every article of export from the South, than of cotton. 
When Mr. Jay negotiated the treaty of 1794 with England, 
it is evident from the twelfth article ol the treaty, which was 
suspended by the Senate, that he did not know that cotton 
was exported at all from the United States. 


352 


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Well, Sir, we know what followed. The age of cotton 
became the golden age of our Southern brethren. It grati¬ 
fied their desire for improvement and accumulation, at the 
same time that it excited it. The desire grew by what it 
fed upon, and there soon came to be an eagerness for other 
territory, a new area or new areas for the cultivation of the 
cotton crop; and measures leading to this result were 
brought about rapidly, one after another, under the lead 
of Southern men at the head of the government, they having 
a majority in both branches of Congress to accomplish their 
ends. The honorable member from South Carolina* ob¬ 
served that there has been a majority all along in favor of 
the North. If that be true, Sir, the North has acted either 
very liberally and kindly, or very weakly ; for they never 
exercised that majority efficiently five times in the history 
of the government, when a division or trial of strength 
arose. Never. Whether they were outgeneralled, or wheth¬ 
er it was owing to other causes, I shall not stop to consider; 
but no man acquainted with the history of the Union can 
deny that the general lead in the politics of the country, 
for three fourths of the period that has elapsed since the 
adoption of the Constitution, has been a Southern lead. 

In 1802, in pursuit of the idea of opening a new cotton 
region, the United States obtained a cession from Georgia 
of the whole of her western territory, now embracing the 
rich and growing States of Alabama and Mississippi. In 
1803 Louisiana was purchased from France, out of which 
the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri have been 
framed, as slaveholding States. In 1819 the cession of 
Florida was made, bringing in another region adapted to 
cultivation by slaves. Sir, the honorable member from 
South Carolina thought he saw in certain operations of the 
government, such as the manner of collecting the revenue, 
and the tendency of measures calculated to promote emigra¬ 
tion into the country, what accounts for the more rapid 
growth of the North than the South. He ascribes that more 
rapid growth, not to the operation of time, but to the sys¬ 
tem of government and administration established under this 
Constitution. That is matter of opinion. To a certain ex- 
* Mr. Calhoun. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


353 


tent it may be true ; but it does seem to me, that, if any 
operation of the government can be shown in any degree to 
have promoted the population, and growth, and wealth of 
the North, it is much more sure that there are sundry im¬ 
portant and distinct operations of the government, about 
which no man can doubt, tending to promote, and which 
absolutely have promoted, the increase of the slave interest 
and the slave territory of the South. It was not time that 
brought in Louisiana; it was the act of men. It was not 
time that brought in Florida; it was the act of men. And 
lastly, Sir, to complete those acts of legislation which have 
contributed so much to enlarge the area of the institution 
of slavery, Texas, great and vast and illimitable Texas, 
was added to the Union as a slave State in 1845 ; and that, 
Sir, pretty much closed the whole chapter, and settled the 
whole account. 

That closed the whole chapter and settled the whole ac¬ 
count, because the annexation of Texas, upon the conditions 
and under the guaranties upon which she was admitted, did 
not leave within the control of this government an acre of 
land, capable of being cultivated by slave labor, between 
this Capitol and the Rio Grande or the Nueces, or whatever 
is the proper boundary of Texas ; not an acre. From that 
moment, the whole country, from this place to the western 
boundary of Texas, was fixed, pledged, fastened, decided, 
to be slave territory for ever, by the solemn guaranties of 
law. And I now say, Sir, as the proposition upon which I 
stand this day, and upon the truth and firmness of which I 
intend to act until it is overthrown, that there is not at 
this moment within the United States, or any territory of 
the United States, a single foot of land, the character 
of which, in regard to its being free territory or slave 
territory, is not fixed by some law, and some irrepealable 
law, beyond the power of the action of the government. 
Is it not so with respect to Texas 1 It is most manifestly 
so. The honorable member from South Carolina, at the 
time of the admission of Texas, held an important post in 
the executive department of the government; he was Secre¬ 
tary of State. Another eminent person of great activity 
30* 


354 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


and adroitness in affairs, I mean the late Secretary of the 
Treasury, was a conspicuous member of this body, and took 
the lead in the business of annexation, in cooperation with 
the Secretary of State; and I must say that they did their 
business faithfully and thoroughly; there was no botch left 
in it. They rounded it off, and made as close joiner work 
as ever was exhibited. Resolutions of annexation were 
brought into Congress, fitly joined together, compact, ef¬ 
ficient, conclusive upon the great object which they had in 
view, and those resolutions passed. 

Allow me to read a part of these resolutions. It is the 
third clause of the second section of the resolution of the 1st 
of March, 1845, for the admission of Texas, which applies 
to this part of the case. That clause is as follows: — 

“ New States, of convenient size, not exceeding four in number, in 
addition to said State of Texas, and having sufficient population, may 
hereafter, by the consent of said State, be formed out of the territory 
thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under the provisions of the 
Federal Constitution. And such States as may be formed out of that 
portion of said territory lying south of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes 
north latitude, commonly known as the Missouri Compromise line, shall 
be admitted into the Union with or without slavery, as the people of 
each State asking admission may desire; and in such State or States as 
shall be formed out of said territory north of said Missouri Compro¬ 
mise line, slavery or involuntary servitude (except for crime) shall be 
prohibited.” 

Now, what is here stipulated, enacted, and secured ? It 
is, that all Texas south of 36° 3(K, which is nearly the whole 
of it, shall be admitted into the Union as a slave State. It 
was a slave State, and therefore came in as a slave State; 
and the guaranty is, that new States shall be made out of it, 
to the number of four, in addition to the State then in ex¬ 
istence and admitted at that time by these resolutions, and 
that such States as are formed out of that portion of Texas 
lying south of 36° 30' may come in as slave States. I 
know no form of legislation which can strengthen this. I 
know no mode of recognition that can add a tittle of 
weight to it. I know no way, I candidly confess, in which 
this government, acting in good faith, as I trust it always 
will, can relieve itself from that stipulation and pledge, by 
any honest course of legislation whatever. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


355 


I hope, Sir, it is now apparent that my proposition, so 
far as it respects Texas, has been maintained, and that the 
provision in this article is clear and absolute ; and it has been 
well suggested by my friend from Rhode Island,* that that part 
of Texas which lies north of 36° 30' of north latitude, and 
which may be formed into free States, is dependent, in like 
manner, upon the consent of Texas, herself a slave State. 

Now, Sir, how came this ? How came it to pass that 
within these walls, where it is said by the honorable mem¬ 
ber from South Carolina that the free States have always 
had a majority, this resolution of annexation, such as I have 
described it, obtained a majority in both houses of Congress 1 
Sir, it obtained that majority by the great number of North¬ 
ern votes added to the entire Southern vote, or at least 
nearly the whole of the Southern vote. The aggregate was 
made up of Northern and Southern votes. In the House 
of Representatives there were about eighty Southern votes 
and about fifty Northern votes for the admission of Texas. 
In the Senate the vote for the admission of Texas was 
twenty-seven, and twenty-five against it; and of those 
twenty-seven votes, constituting the majority, no less than 
thirteen came from the free States, and four of them were 
from New England. The whole of these thirteen Senators, 
constituting within a fraction, you see, one half of all the 
votes in this body for the admission of this immeasurable 
extent of slave territory, were sent here by free States. 

Sir, there is not so remarkable a chapter in our history 
of political events, political parties, and political men as is 
afforded by this admission of a new slaveholding territory, 
so vast that a bird cannot fly over it in a week. New Eng¬ 
land, as I have said, with some of her own votes, supported 
this measure. Three fourths of the votes of liberty-loving 
Connecticut were given for it in the other house, and one 
half here. There was one vote for it from Maine, but, I 
am happy to say, not the vote of the honorable member 
who addressed the Senate the day before yesterday,! and who 
was then a Representative from Maine in the House of 
Representatives; but there was one vote from Maine, ay, 


* Mr. Greene. 


t Mr. Hamlin. 


&56 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


and there was one vote for it from Massachusetts, given 
by a gentleman then representing, and now living in, the 
district in which the prevalence of Free Soil sentiment for a 
couple of years or so has defeated the choice of any member 
to represent it in Congress. 

Mr. President, in the excited times in which we live, 
there is found to exist a state of crimination and recrimina¬ 
tion between the North and South. There are lists of 
grievances produced by each; and those grievances, real or 
supposed, alienate the minds of one portion of the country 
from the other, exasperate the feelings, and subdue the sense 
of fraternal affection, patriotic love, and mutual regard. 

Now, Sir, so far as any of these grievances have their 
foundation in matters of law, they can be redressed, and 
ought to be redressed; and so far as they have their foun¬ 
dation in matters of opinion, in sentiment, in mutual crimi¬ 
nation and recrimination, all that we can do is to endeavor 
to allay the agitation, and cultivate a better feeling and more 
fraternal sentiments between the South and the North. 

Mr. President, I should much prefer to have heard from 
every member on this floor declarations of opinion that this 
Union could never be dissolved, than the declaration of opin¬ 
ion by any body, that, in any case, under the pressure of 
any circumstances, such a dissolution was possible. I hear 
with distress and anguish the word “ secession,” especially 
when it falls from the lips of those who are patriotic, and 
known to the country, and known all over the world, for 
their political services. Secession ! Peaceable secession! 
Sir, your eyes and mine are never destined to see that mira¬ 
cle. The dismemberment of this vast country without con¬ 
vulsion ! The breaking up of the fountains of the great 
deep without ruffling the surface ! Who is so foolish, I beg 
every body’s pardon, as to expect to see any such thing 1 
Sir, he who sees these States, now revolving in harmony 
around a common centre, and expects to see them quit their 
places and fly off without convulsion, may look the next hour 
to see the heavenly bodies rush from their spheres, and jos¬ 
tle against each other in the realms of space, without caus¬ 
ing the wreck of the universe. There can be no such thing 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


357 

as a peaceable secession. Peaceable secession is an utter 
impossibility. Is the great Constitution under which we 
live, covering this whole country, is it to be thawed and 
melted away by secession, as the snows on the' mountain 
melt under the influence of a vernal sun, disappear almost 
unobserved, and run off? No, Sir! No, Sir ! I will not 
state what might produce the disruption of the Union; but, 
Sir, I see as plainly as I see the sun in heaven what that 
disruption itself must produce ; I see that it must produce war, 
and such a war as I will not describe, in its twofold character. 

Peaceable secession ! Peaceable secession ! The con¬ 
current agreement of all the members of this great republic 
to separate ! A voluntary separation, with alimony on one 
side and on the other. Why, what would be the result ? 
Where is the line to be drawn ? What States are to secede ? 
What is to remain American? What am I to be? An 
American no longer ? Am I to become a sectional man, a 
local man, a separatist, with no country in common with the 
gentlemen who sit around me here, or who fill the other 
house of Congress ? Heaven forbid ! Where is the flag of 
the republic to remain ? Where is the eagle still to tower ? 
or is he to cower, and shrink, and fall to the ground ? Why, 
Sir, our ancestors, our fathers and our grandfathers, those 
of them that are yet living amongst us with prolonged lives, 
would rebuke and reproach us; and our children and our 
grandchildren would cry out shame upon us, if we of this 
generation should dishonor these ensigns of the power of 
the government and the harmony of that Union which is 
every day felt among us with so much joy and gratitude. 
What is to become of the army ? What is to become of 
the navy ? What is to become of the public lands ? How 
is each of the thirty States to defend itself? I know, al¬ 
though the idea has not been stated distinctly, there is to be, 
or it is supposed possible that there will be, a Southern Con¬ 
federacy. I do not mean, when I allude to this state¬ 
ment, that any one seriously contemplates such a state of 
things. I do not mean to say that it is true, but I have 
heard it suggested elsewhere, that the idea has been enter¬ 
tained, that, after the dissolution of this Union, a Southern 


358 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


Confederacy might be formed. I am sorry, Sir, that it has 
ever been thought of, talked of, or dreamed of, in the wild¬ 
est flights of human imagination. But the idea, so far as it 
exists, must be of a separation, assigning the slave States to 
one side, and the free States to the other. Sir, 1 may ex¬ 
press myself too strongly, perhaps, but there are impossibili¬ 
ties in the natural as well as in the physical world, and I 
hold the idea of a separation of these States, those that are 
free to form one government, and those that are slavehold¬ 
ing to form another, as such an impossibility. We could 
not separate the States by any such line, if we were to draw 
it. We could not sit down here to-day and draw a line of 
separation that would satisfy any five men in the country. 
There are natural causes that would keep and tie us to¬ 
gether, and there are social and domestic relations which we 
could not break if we would, and which we should not if we 
could. 

Sir, nobody can look over the face of this country at the 
present moment, nobody can see where its population is the 
most dense and growing, without being ready to admit, and 
compelled to admit, that ere long the strength of America 
will be in the Valley of the Mississippi. Well, now, Sir, I 
beg to inquire what the wildest enthusiast has to say on the 
possibility of cutting that river in two, and leaving free 
States at its source and on its branches, and slave States 
down near its mouth, each forming a separate government ? 
Pray, Sir, let me say to the people of this country, that 
these things are worthy of their pondering and of their con¬ 
sideration. Here, Sir, are live millions of freemen in the 
free States, north of the river Ohio. Can any body suppose 
that this population cau be severed by a line that divides 
them from the territory of a foreign and an alien govern¬ 
ment, down somewhere, the Lord knows where, upon the 
lower banks of the Mississippi ? What would become 
of Missouri ? Will she join the arrondissement of the 
slave States ? Shall the man from the Yellow Stone and 
the Platte be connected, in the new republic, with the man 
who Lves on the southern extremity of the Cape of Florida? 
Sir, 1 am ashamed to pursue this line of remark. I dislike 


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359 


it, I have an utter disgust for it. I would rather hear of 
natural blasts and mildews, war, pestilence, and famine, than 
to hear gentlemen talk of secession. To break up this great 
government ! to dismember this glorious country] to aston¬ 
ish Europe with an act of folly such as Europe for two cen¬ 
turies has never beheld in any government or any people ! 
No, Sir ! no, Sir! There will be no secession ! Gentle¬ 
men are not serious when they talk of secession. 

I have one other remark to make. In my observations 
upon slavery as it has existed in this country, and as it now 
exists, I have’expressed no opinion of the mode of its ex¬ 
tinguishment or melioration. I will say, however, though I 
have nothing to propose, because I do not deem myself so 
competent as other gentlemen to take any lead on this sub¬ 
ject, that if any gentleman from the South shall propose a 
scheme, to be carried on by this government upon a large 
scale, for the transportation of free colored people to any 
colony or any place in the world, I should be quite disposed 
to incur almost any degree of expense to accomplish that 
object. Nay, Sir, following an example set more than 
twenty years ago by a great man,* then a Senator from 
New York, I would return to Virginia, and through her to 
the whole South, the money received from the lands and 
territories ceded by her to this government, for any such 
purpose as to remove, in whole or in part, or in any way to 
diminish or deal beneficially with, the free colored popula¬ 
tion of the Southern States. I have said that I honor Vir¬ 
ginia for her cession of this territory. There have been re¬ 
ceived into the treasury of the United States eighty millions 
of dollars, the proceeds of the sales of the public lands 
ceded by her. If the residue should i>e sold at the same 
rate, the whole aggregate will exceed two hundred millions 
of dollars. If Virginia and the South see fit to adopt any 
proposition to relieve themselves from the free people of 
color among them, or such as may be made free, they have 
my full consent that the government shall pay them any sum 
of money out pf the proceeds of that cession which may be 
adequate to the purpose. 


* Mr. Rufus King. 


360 


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And now, Mr. President, I draw these observations to a 
close. I have spoken freely, and I meant to do so. I have 
sought to make no display. I have sought to enliven the 
occasion by no animated discussion, nor have I attempted 
any train of elaborate argument. I have wished only to 
speak my sentiments, fully and at length, being desirous, 
once and for all, to let the Senate know, and to let the 
country know, the opinions and sentiments which I enter¬ 
tain on all these subjects. These opinions are not likely to 
be suddenly changed. If there be any futur^ service that 1 
can render to the country, consistently with these sentiments 
and opinions, I shall cheerfully render it. If there be not, 
I shall still be glad to have had an opportunity to disburden 
myself from the bottom of my heart, and to make known 
every political sentiment that therein exists. 

And now, Mr. President, instead of speaking of the pos¬ 
sibility or utility of secession, instead of dwelling in those 
caverns of darkness, instead of groping with those ideas so 
full of all that is horrid and horrible, let us come out into 
the light of day; let us enjoy the fresh air of Liberty and 
Union; let us cherish those hopes which belong to us; let 
us devote ourselves to those great objects that are fit for our 
consideration and our action ; let us raise our conceptions 
to the magnitude and the importance of the duties that de¬ 
volve upon us; let our comprehension be as broad as the 
country for which we act, our aspirations as high as its cer¬ 
tain destiny ; let us not be pigmies in a case that calls for 
men. Never did there devolve on any generation of men 
higher trusts than now devolve upon us, for the preservation 
of this Constitution and the harmony and peace of all who 
are destined to live under it. Let us make our generation 
one of the strongest and brightest links in that golden chain 
which is destined, I fondly believe, to grapple the people of 
all the States to this Constitution for ages to come. We 
have a great, popular, constitutional government, guarded 
by law and by judicature, and defended by the affections of 
the whole people. No monarchical throne presses these 
States together, no iron chain of military power encircles 
them; they live and stand under a government popular in 


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361 


its form, representative in its character, founded upon prin¬ 
ciples of equality, and so constructed, we hope, as to last 
for ever. In all its history it lias been beneficent; it lias 
trodden down no man’s liberty; it has crushed no State. 
Its daily respiration is liberty and patriotism ; its yet youth¬ 
ful veins are full of enterprise, courage, and honorable love 
of glory and renown. Large before, the country has now, 
by recent events, become vastly larger. This republic now 
extends, with a vast breadth, across the whole continent. 
The two great seas of the world wash the one and the other 
shore. We realize, on a mighty scale, the beautiful de¬ 
scription of the ornamental border of the buckler of 
Achilles: — 

“ Now, the broad shield complete, the artist crowned 
With his last hand, and poured the ocean round ; 

In living silver seemed the waves to roll, 

And beat the buckler’s verge, and bound the whole.” 

-- 

THE COMPROMISE MEASURES. 

Speech delivered in the Senate of the United States, on the 17 th of July , 1850, on the Bill 
reported by the Committee of Thirteen , commonly called “ The Compromise Bill.” 

Mr. President, — It was my purpose, on Tuesday of 
last week, to follow the honorable member from South 
Carolina,* who was addressing the Senate on the morning 
of that day, with what I then had, and now have, to say 
upon the subject of this bill. But before the honorable 
member had concluded his remarks, it was announced to us 
that the late chief magistrate of the United States was dan¬ 
gerously ill, and the Senate was moved to adjourn. The 
solemn event of the decease of the President took place 
that evening. 

Sir, various and most interesting reflections present them¬ 
selves to the minds of men, growing out of that occurrence. 
The chief magistrate of a great republic died suddenly. 
Recently elected to that office by the spontaneous voice of 
his fellow-countrymen, possessing in a high degree their con- 

* Mr. Butler. 

31 



362 


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fidence and regard, ere yet he had had a fair opportunity to 
develop the principles of his civil administration, he fell by 
the stroke of death. Yet, Sir, mixed with the sad thoughts 
which this event suggests, and the melancholy feeling which 
spread over the whole country, the real lovers and admirers 
of our constitutional government, in the midst of their griet 
and affliction, found something consoling and gratifying. 
The executive head of a great nation had fallen suddenly ; 
no disturbance arose ; no shock was felt in the great and 
free republic. Credit, public and private, was in no way 
disturbed, and danger to the community or individuals was 
nowhere felt. The legislative authority was neither dis¬ 
solved nor prorogued; nor was there any further interrup¬ 
tion or delay in the exercise of the ordinary functions of 
every branch of the government, than such as was necessary 
for the indulgence, the proper indulgence, of the grief which 
afflicted Congress and the country. Sir, for his country 
General Taylor did not live long enough; but there were 
circumstances in his death so favorable for his own fame and 
character, so gratifying to all to whom he was most dear, 
that he may be said to have died fortunately. 

“ That life is long which answers life’s great end.” 

A gallant soldier, able and experienced in his profession, 
he had achieved all that was to be expected by him in that 
line of duty. Placed at the head of the government, as I 
have said, by the free voice of the people, he died in the 
full possession of the gratitude of his country. He died in 
the midst of domestic affections and domestic happiness. 
He died in the consciousness of duty performed. He died 
here, in the midst of the councils of his country; which 
country, through us, its organs, has bestowed upon him those 
simple, but grand and imposing rites, which the republic 
confers on the most distinguished of her sons. 

“ Such honors Ilium to her hero paid, 

And peaceful slept the mighty Hector’s shade.” 

He has run the race destined for him by Providence, and he 
sleeps with the blessings of his countrymen. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


363 


Mr. President, I proceed now to say upon the subject 
before us what it was my purpose then to have said. I be¬ 
gin by remarking, that the longer we stay in the midst of 
this agitating subject, the longer the final disposition of it is 
postponed, the greater will be the intensity of that anxiety 
which possesses my breast. I wish, Sir, so far as I can, to 
harmonize opinions. I wish to facilitate some measure of 
conciliation. I wish to consummate some proposition or 
other, that shall bring opposing sentiments together, and 
give the country repose. It is not my purpose to-day to 
compare or contrast measures or plans which have been pro¬ 
posed. A measure was suggested by the President, in his 
message of 1848. The same measure, substantially, was 
again recommended by the late President, in his message 
of 1849. Then there is before us this proposition of the 
Committee of Thirteen. 1 do not regard these as opposite, 
conflicting, or, to use the language of the day, antagonisti- 
cal propositions at all. To a certain extent, they ail agree. 
Beyond what was proposed either by Mr. Polk or by the 
late President, this report of the committee, and the bill 
now before us, go another step. Their suggestions were, 
and especially that of the late President, to admit Califor¬ 
nia, and for the present to stop there. The bill before the 
Senate proposes to admit California, but also to make a 
proper provision, if the Senate deem the provision proper, 
for the Territories of New Mexico and Utah. 1 confess, 
Sir, my judgment from the first has been, that it was indis¬ 
pensable that Congress should make some provision for these 
Territories; but 1 have been indifferent whether the things 
necessary to be done should be done in one bill or in sepa¬ 
rate bills, except that, as a matter of expediency, it was and 
has been my opinion, from the beginning, that it would have 
been better to have proceeded measure by measure. Thar 
was a matter of opinion upon the expediency of the course 
1 was one of the Committee of Thirteen. Circumstances 
called me to my home during its deliberations ; and the 
general opinion of the committee at that time seemed to be, 
and I thought the better opinion, in favor of beginning with 


364 


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California, and then taking up the other measures in their 
order. Upon further consideration, the committee, very 
fairly, I doubt not, and in the exercise of their best judg¬ 
ment and discretion, thought lit to unite the three things 
which are in this bill. Well, Sir, whether singly or together, 
each and every one of these objects meets my approbation, 
and they are all, in my judgment, desirable. 

In the first place, I think it is a desirable object to admit 
California. I do not conceal from myself, nor do I wish to 
conceal from others, that California is before us with some 
degree of irregularity stamped upon her proceedings. She 
has not been through the previous process of territorial ex¬ 
istence. She has formed her constitution without our con¬ 
sent. But I consider, Sir, that California, from the extraor¬ 
dinary circumstances which have attended her birth and 
progress to the present moment, entitles herself, by the ne¬ 
cessity of the case, to an exemption from the ordinary rules. 
Who expected to see such a great community spring up in 
such an incredibly short time ? Who expected to see a hun¬ 
dred or a hundred and fifty thousand people engaged in such 
an employment, with so much activity, and enterprise, and 
commerce, drawing to themselves the admiration and regard 
of the whole world, in the period of a few months ? Well, 
Sir, she comes to us with a constitution framed upon repub¬ 
lican models, and conformable to the Constitution of the 
United States; and under these circumstances, still regard¬ 
ing her application as premature and irregular, I am for ad¬ 
mitting her, as there has been nothing done which her admis¬ 
sion on our part will not cure. She will be lawfully in the 
Union if we admit her, and therefore I have no hesitation 
upon that point. 

I am sorry, Sir, very sorry, that my friend from Connect¬ 
icut,* who has studied this case a great deal more than I 
have, not only as a member of this body, but while he was 
a member of the other house, and has demonstrated, beyond 
the power of any conscientious man’s denial, that there can 
be no slavery in the Territory about which we are speaking, 


* Mr. Smith. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


365 


that the South is mistaken in supposing it possible to derive 
any benefit from it, and that the North is mistaken in sup¬ 
posing that that which they desire to prohibit will ever need 
any prohibition there; I am sorry to see that my very able 
friend, having demonstrated the case, did not carry out his 
own demonstration. The expression of his purpose to vote 
against this bill followed one of the clearest and strongest 
demonstrations in its favor that I have heard from the mouth 
of man. What is the reason of his opposition ? Why, the 
gentleman said he was instructed by the legislature of Con¬ 
necticut to oppose it; and, on the whole, he did not feel it 
to be his duty to depart from those instructions. 

It has become, Sir, an object of considerable importance 
in the history of this government, to inquire how far instruc¬ 
tions, given ex parte and under one state of circumstances, 
are to govern those who are to act under another state of 
circumstances, and not upon an ex parte hearing, but upon a 
hearing of the whole matter. The proposition, that a mem¬ 
ber of this government, in giving a vote to bind all the 
country, is to take as his instructions the will of a small part 
of the country, whether in his own State or out of it, is a 
proposition that is above or below all argument. Where 
men are sworn to act conscientiously for the good of the 
whole, according to their own best judgment and opinion, if 
the proposition is asserted that they are, nevertheless, bound 
to take the individual opinion of a few, and be exclusively 
bound by that opinion, there is no room for argument; 
every man’s moral perception, without argument, decides on 
such a proposition. I know, Sir, that, in a popular govern¬ 
ment like ours, instructions of this sort will be given, and 
pledges required. It is in the nature of the case. Politi¬ 
cal men in this country love the people; they love popular 
applause and promotion, and they are willing to make prom¬ 
ises ; and, as in other sorts of love, so in this, when the 
blood burns, the soul prodigally lends the tongue vows. It 
is especially the case in some States, in which, in election¬ 
eering contests, instructions become little constitutions, which 
men vow to support. These instructions are often given 
31 * 


366 


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under circumstances very remote from those that exist when 
the duty comes to he performed ; and, I am sorry to say, 
thej' are often given on collateral considerations. I will not 
say when or where, how remotely or how lately; but I am 
very much inclined to think that we should find, in the his¬ 
tory of the country, cases in which instructions are ready to 
be given, or ready to be withheld, as the support of some 
little fragment of some sectional party may be, or may not 
be, obtained thereby. 

Sir, it is curious enough to observe how differently this 
idea, that a member chosen into a public body, to act for 
the whole country, is bound, nevertheless, by the instructions 
of those who elected him, which has risen to a sort of rule 
in some of the American States, is received and treated else¬ 
where. According to our notions and habits of thinking, it 
is not only allowable for, but incumbent upon, a member of 
Congress, to follow the instructions given by his own par¬ 
ticular constituents, although his vote affects the interest, 
tiie honor, the welfare, the renown, of twenty millions of 
people. As an instance, Sir, of the various views taken 
of this subject, as a question of morals, I may refer to what 
happened in the Chamber of Deputies of France some years 
ago, perhaps while the honorable member from Michigan * 
was residing in Paris, but more probably shortly after his 
return. A gentleman, who was a candidate for the Cham¬ 
ber of Deputies, promised his constituents that on a certain 
measure, expected to come before the Chamber, he would 
vote as they required. They required him to vote so and 
so, and he said he would do it. Well, Sir, he was chosen ; 
and when he came to the Chamber to take the oath of office, 
be was told, Not so fast! Objection was made. The 
Chamber said he did not come there as a fair man ; he did 
not come as an impartial man, to judge of the interests of 
the whole country upon the great questions that were to 
come before the Chamber. He was pledged and tram¬ 
melled; he had given up his conscience and promised his 
vote, and therefore did not stand on an equality with other 


* Mr. Cass. 


SELECTIONS PROM WEBSTER. 


367 


members of that assembly who came unpledged and untram¬ 
melled, and bound to exercise their own best judgments. 
In short, they rejected him ; and whoever wishes to see the 
most beautiful disquisition upon political morals, and the 
duty of those who represent the people, that I know of since 
the time of Mr. Burke’s speech at Bristol, can be gratified 
by reading M. Guizot’s speech on that occasion. 

I have alluded to the argument of my friend from Con¬ 
necticut, because it is the ablest argument on this subject 
that I have heard ; and I have alluded to his intimated vote 
as illustrating what I consider the evil of instructing men, 
before a case arises, as to what shall be their conduct upon 
that case. The honorable member from Connecticut is as 
independent as any other man, and of course will not under¬ 
stand me to mean any thing personal in what I have said. 
I take his case merely as an illustration of the folly and 
absurdity of instructions. Why should a man of his strength 
of intellect, and while acting for the whole country, be con¬ 
trolled in his judgment by instructions given by others, with 
little knowledge of the circumstances, and no view of the 
whole case ? 

Mr. President, it has always seemed to me to be a grate¬ 
ful reflection, that, however short and transient may be 
the lives of individuals, states may be permanent. The 
great corporations that embrace the government of mankind, 
protect their liberties, and secure their happiness, may have 
something of perpetuity, and, as I might say, of earthly 
immortality. For my part, Sir, I gratify myself by con¬ 
templating what in the future will be the condition of that 
generous State, which has done me the honor to keep me in 
the counsels of the country for so many years. I see noth¬ 
ing about her in prospect less than that which encircles her 
now. I feel that when I, and all those that now hear me, 
shall have gone to our last home, and afterwards, when 
mould may have gathered upon our memories, as it will 
have done upon our tombs, that State, so early to take her 
part in the great contest of the Revolution, will stand, as 
she has stood and now stands, like that column which, near 
her Capitol, perpetuates the memory of the first great battle 


368 


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of the Revolution, firm, erect, and immovable. I believe, 
Sir, that, if commotion shall shake the country, there will 
be one rock for ever, as solid as the granite of her hills, for 
the Union to repose upon. I believe that if disasters arise, 
bringing clouds which shall obscure the ensign now over her 
and over us, there will be one star that will but burn the 
brighter amid the darkness of that night; and I believe that, 
if in the remotest ages (I trust they will be infinitely remote) 
an occasion shall occur when the sternest duties of patriotism 
are demanded and to be performed, Massachusetts will imi¬ 
tate her own example; and that* as at the breaking out of 
the Revolution she was the first to offer the outpouring of 
her blood and her treasure in the struggle for liberty, so she 
will be hereafter ready, when the emergency arises, to re¬ 
peat and renew that offer, with a thousand times as many 
warm hearts, and a thousand times as many strong hands. 

And.now, Mr. President, to return at last to the principal 
and important question before us, What are we to do 1 
How are we to bring this emergent and pressing question 
to an issue and an end ? Here have we been seven and a 
half months, disputing about points which, in my judgment, 
are of no practical importance to one or the other part of 
the country. Are we to dwell for ever upon a single topic, 
a single idea 1 Are we to forget all the purposes for which 
governments are instituted, and continue everlastingly to dis¬ 
pute about that which is of no essential consequence ? I 
think, Sir, the country calls upon us loudly and impera¬ 
tively to settle this question. I think that the whole world 
is looking to see whether this great popular government can 
get through such a crisis. We are the observed of all 
observers. It is not to be disputed or doubted, that the 
eyes of all Christendom are upon us. We have stood 
through many trials. Can we not stand through this, which 
takes so much the character of a sectional controversy ? 
Can we stand that ? There is no inquiring man in all 
Europe who does not ask himself that question every day, 
when he reads the intelligence of the morning. Can this 
country, with one set of interests at the South, and another 
set of interests at the North, and these interests supposed, 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


369 


but falsely supposed, to be at variance; can this people see 
what is so evident to the whole world beside, that this Union 
is their main hope and greatest benefit, and that their inter¬ 
ests in every part are entirely compatible 1 Can they see, 
and will they feel, that their prosperity, their respectability 
among the nations of the earth, and their happiness at home, 
depend upon the maintenance of their Union and their 
Constitution ? That is the question. I agree that local 
divisions are apt to warp the understandings of men, and 
to excite a belligerent feeling between section and section. 
It is natural, in times of irritation, for one part of the 
country to say, If you do that, I will do this, and so get up 
a feeling of hostility and defiance. Then comes belligerent 
legislation, and then an appeal to arms. The question is, 
whether we have the true patriotism, the Americanism, 
necessary to carry us through such a trial. The whole 
world is looking towards us with extreme anxiety^ For 
myself, I propose, Sir, to abide by the principles and the 
purposes which 1 have avowed. I shall stand by the Union, 
and by all who stand by it. I shall do justice to the whole 
country, according to the best of my ability, in all I say, 
and act for the good of the whole country in all I do. I 
mean to stand upon the Constitution. I need no other plat¬ 
form. I shall know but one country. The ends I aim at 
shall be my country’s, my God’s, and Truth’s. 1 was born 
an American; I will live an American; I shall die an 
American; and I intend to perform the duties incumbent 
upon me in that character to the end of my career. I 
mean to do this, with absolute disregard of personal conse¬ 
quences. What are personal consequences ? What is the 
individual man, with all the good or evil that may betide 
him, in comparison with the good or evil which may befall 
a great country in a crisis like this, and in the midst of 
great transactions which concern that country’s fate ? Let 
the consequences be what they will, I am careless. No 
« man can suffer too much, and no man can fall too soon, if 
he suffer or if he fall in defence of the liberties and Consti¬ 
tution of his country. 


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PILGRIM FESTIVAL AT NEW YORK IN 1850. 

Speech delivered before the New England Society of New York on Occasion of the Pilgrim 
Festival for 1850. 

After the customary toasts on this occasion had been given, the 
President of the day, Mr. Grinnell, asked attention to a toast which, as 
he said, was not on the list, but which he thought every one would vote 
ought to be placed there forthwith. He gave “ The Constitution 
and the Union, and their Chief Defender.” This sentiment 
was received with great applause; and when Mr. Webster rose to re¬ 
spond to it, he was greeted with the most prolonged and tumultuous 
cheers. When the applause had subsided, he spoke as follows : — 

Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the New England 
Society of New York : — Ye sons of New England ! Ye 
brethren of the kindred tie ! I have come hither to-night, 
not without some inconvenience, that I might behold a con¬ 
gregation whose faces bear lineaments of a New England 
origin, and whose hearts beat with full New England pulsa¬ 
tions. I willingly make the sacrifice. I am here to attend 
this meeting of the Pilgrim Society of New York, the great 
offshoot of the Pilgrim Society of Massachusetts. And, 
Gentlemen, I shall begin what I have to say, which is but 
little, by tendering to you my thanks for the invitation ex¬ 
tended to me, and by wishing you, one and all, every kind 
of happiness and prosperity. 

Gentlemen, this has been a stormy, cold, boisterous, and 
inclement day. The winds have been harsh, the skies have 
been severe ; and if we had been exposed to their rigor; if 
we had no shelter against this howling and freezing tempest; 
if we were wan and worn out; if half of us were sick and 
tired, and ready to descend into the grave ; if we were on the 
bleak coast of Plymouth, houseless, homeless, with nothing 
over our heads but the heavens, and that God who sits above 
the heavens; if we had distressed wives on our arms, and 
hungry and shivering children clinging to our skirts, we 
should see something, and feel something, of that scene, 
which, in the providence of God, was enacted at Plymouth 
on the 22d of December, 1620. 

Thanks to Almighty God, who, from that distressed early 
condition of our fathers, has raised us to a height of pros- 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


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perity and of happiness which they neither enjoyed, nor 
could have anticipated ! We have learned much of them; 
they could have foreseen little of us. Would to God my 
friends, that, when we carry our affections and our recollec¬ 
tions back to that period, we could arm ourselves with some¬ 
thing of the stern virtues which supported them in that hour 
of peril, and exposure, and suffering ! Would to God that 
we possessed that unconquerable resolution, stronger than 
bars of brass or iron, which strengthened their hearts; that 
patience, “ sovereign o’er transmuted ill,” and, above all, 
that faith, that religious faith, which, with eyes fast fixed 
upon heaven, tramples all things earthly beneath her tri¬ 
umphant feet! 

Gentlemen, the scenes of this w r orld change. What our 
ancestors saw and felt, we shall not see nor feel. What 
they achieved, it is denied to us even to attempt. The se¬ 
verer duties of life, requiring the exercise of the stern and 
unbending virtues, were theirs. They were called upon for 
the exhibition of those austere qualities, which, before they 
came to the Western wilderness, had made them what they 
were. Things have changed. In the progress of society, 
the fashions and the habits of life, w T ith all its conditions, have 
changed. Their rigid sentiments, and their tenets, apparently 
harsh and exclusive, we are not called on, in every respect, 
to imitate or commend; or rather to imitate, for we should 
commend them always, when we consider the state of socie¬ 
ty in which they had been adopted, and in which they 
seemed necessary. Our fathers had that religious senti¬ 
ment, that trust in Providence, that determination to do 
right, and to seek, through every degree of toil and suffer¬ 
ing, the honor of God, and the preservation of their liberties, 
which we shall do well to cherish, to imitate, and to equal, 
to the utmost of our ability. It may be true, and it is true, 
that in the progress of society the milder virtues have come 
to belong more especially to our day and our condition. The 
Pilgrims had been great sufferers from intolerance ; it w r as 
not unnatural that their own faith and practice, as a conse¬ 
quence, should become somewhat intolerant. This is the 
common infirmity of human nature. Man retaliates on 


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man. It is to be hoped, however, that the greater spread 
of the benignant principles of religion, of the divine charity 
of Christianity, has, to some extent, improved the sentiments 
which prevailed in the world at that time. No doubt the 
“ first comers,” as they were called, were attached to their 
own forms of public worship, and to their own particular 
and strongly-cherished religious opinions. No doubt they 
esteemed those sentiments, and the observances which they 
practised, to be absolutely binding on all, by the authority 
of the word of God. It is true, I think, in the general ad¬ 
vancement of human intelligence, that we find, what they 
do not seem to have found, that a greater toleration of re¬ 
ligious opinion, a more friendly feeling towards all who pro¬ 
fess reverence for God and obedience to his commands, is 
not inconsistent with the great and fundamental principles 
of religion ; I might rather say, is itself one of those funda¬ 
mental principles. So we see in our day, I think, without 
any departure from the essential principles of our fathers, a 
more enlarged and comprehensive Christian philanthrophy. 
It seems to be the American destiny, the mission which has 
been intrusted to us here on this shore of the Atlantic, the 
great conception and the great duty to which we are born, 
to show that all sects, and all denominations, professing 
reverence for the authority of the Author of our being, and 
belief in his revelations, may be safely tolerated without 
prejudice either to our religion or to our liberties. 

We are Protestants, generally speaking; but you all 
know that there presides at the head of the supreme judica¬ 
ture of the United States a Roman Catholic ; and no man, 
I suppose, through the whole United States, imagines that the 
judicature of the country is less safe, that the administration 
of public justice is less respectable or less secure, because 
the Chief Justice of the United States has been, and is, a 
firm adherent of that religion. And so it is in every depart¬ 
ment of society amongst us. In both houses of Congress, 
in all public offices, and all public affairs, we proceed on the 
idea that a man’s religious belief is a matter above human 
law ; that it is a question to be settled between him and his 
Maker, because he is responsible to none but his Maker for 


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adopting or rejecting revealed truth. And here is the great 
distinction which is sometimes overlooked, and which I am 
afraid is now too often overlooked, in this land, the glorious 
inheritance of the sons of tiie Pilgrims. Men, for their re¬ 
ligious sentiments, are accountable to God, and to God only. 
Religion is both a communication and a tie between man 
and his Maker ; and to his own master every man standeth 
or falleth. But when men come together in society, estab¬ 
lish social relations, and form governments for the protection 
of the rights of all, then it is indispensable that this right 
of private judgment should in some measure be relinquished 
and made subservient to the judgment of the whole. Re¬ 
ligion may exist while every man is left responsible only to 
God. Society, civil rule, the civil state, cannot exist, while 
every man is responsible to nobody and to nothing but to 
his own opinion. And our New England ancestors under¬ 
stood all this quite well. Gentlemen, there is the “ Consti¬ 
tution ” which was adopted on board the Mayflower in 
November, 1620, while that bark of immortal memory was 
riding at anchor in the harbor of Cape Cod. What is it ? 
Its authors honored God; they professed to obey all his 
commandments, and to live ever and in all things in his 
obedience. But they say, nevertheless, that for the estab¬ 
lishment of a civil polity, and for the greater security and 
preservation of their civil rights and liberties, they agree 
that the laws and ordinances, acts and constitutions, (and I 
am glad they put in the word “ constitutions — they 
say that these laws and ordinances, acts and constitutions , 
which may be established by those whom they shall appoint 
to enact them, they, in all due submission and obedience, 
will support. 

This constitution is not long. I will read it. It invokes 
a religious sanction and the authority of God on their civil 
obligations; for it was no doctrine of theirs that civil obe- 
dience is a mere matter of expediency. Here it is: — 

“ In the name of God, Amen : We, whose names are underwritten, 
the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord, King James, by the grace 
of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, king, defender of the 
Faith, &c., having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement 

32 


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of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to 
plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these 
presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and of one 
another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body poli¬ 
tic, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends 
aforesaid, and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just 
and equal laws and ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time 
to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general 
good of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and 
obedience.” 

The right of private judgment in matters between the 
Creator and the individual, and submission and obedience to 
the will of the whole, in all that respects civil polity, and the 
administration of such affairs as concerned the colony about 
to be established, they regarded as entirely consistent; and 
the common sense of mankind, lettered and unlettered, every 
where establishes and confirms this sentiment. Indeed, all 
must see that it is the very ligament, the very tie, which 
connects man to man, in the social system ; and these senti¬ 
ments are imbodied in that constitution. Discourse on this 
topic might be enlarged, but I pass from it. 

Gentlemen, we are now two hundred and thirty years 
from that great event. There is the Mayflower.* There 
is an imitation on a small scale, but a correct one, of the 
Mayflower. Sons of New England ! there was in ancient 
times a ship that carried Jason to the acquisition of the 
Golden Fleece. There was a flag ship at the battle of Acti- 
um which made Augustus Caesar master of the world. In 
modern times, there have been flag ships which have carried 
Hawke, and Howe, and Nelson of the other continent, and 
Hull, and Decatur, and Stewart of this, to triumph. What 
are they all, in the chance of remembrance among men, to 
that little bark, the Mayflower, which reached these shores 
on the 22d day of December, 1620 ? Yes, brethren of New 
England, yes ! that Mayflower was a flower destined to be 
of perpetual bloom ! Its verdure will stand the sultry blasts 
of summer, and the chilling winds of autumn. It will defy 

* Pointing to a small figure of a ship, in confectionary, representing the 
Mayflower, that Btood before him. 


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375 


winter ; it will defy all climate, and all time, and will con¬ 
tinue to spread its petals to the world, and to exhale an 
ever-living odor and fragrance, to the last syllable of record¬ 
ed time. 

Gentlemen, brethren of New England ! whom I have 
come some hundreds of miles to meet this night, let me 
present to you one of the most distinguished of those per¬ 
sonages who came hither on the deck of the Mayflower. 
Let me fancy that I now see Elder William Brewster enter¬ 
ing the door at the farther end of this hall; a tall and erect 
figure, of plain dress, of no elegance of manner beyond a 
respectful bow, mild and cheerful, but of no merriment that 
reaches beyond a smile. Let me suppose that his image 
stood now before us, or that it was looking in upon this 
assembly. 

“ Are ye,” he would say, with a voice of exultation, and 
yet softened with melancholy, “ are ye our children ? Does 
this scene of refinement, of elegance, of riches, of luxury, 
does all this come from our labors ? Is this magnificent 
city, the like of which we never saw nor heard of on either 
continent, is this but an offshoot from Plymouth rock ? Is 
this one part of the great reward for which my brethren and 
myself endured lives of toil and of hardship? We had 
faith and hope. God granted us the spirit to look forward, 
and we did look forward. But this scene we never antici¬ 
pated. Our hopes were on another life. Of earthly grati¬ 
fications we tasted little ; for human honors we had little 
expectation. Our bones lie on the hill in Plymouth church¬ 
yard, obscure, unmarked, secreted , to preserve our graves 
from the knowledge of savage foes. No stone tells where 
we lie. And yet, let me say to you who are our descend¬ 
ants, who possess this glorious country and all it contains, 
who enjoy this hour of prosperity and the thousand bless¬ 
ings showered upon it by the God of your fathers, we envy 
you not, we reproach you not. Be rich, be prosperous, be 
enlightened. Live in pleasure, if such be your allotment 
on earth ; but live, also, always to God and to duty. Spread 
yourselves and your children over the continent, accom¬ 
plish the whole of your great destiny, and if it be that 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


37 6 

through the whole you carry Puritan hearts with you, if you 
still cherish an undying love of civil and religious liberty, 
and mean to enjoy them yourselves, and are willing to shed 
your heart’s blood to transmit them to your posterity, then 
will you be worthy descendants of Carver, and Allerton, and 
Bradford, and the rest of those who landed from stormy 
seas on the rock of Plymouth.” 

Gentlemen, that little vessel, on the 22d of December, 
1620, made her safe landing on the shore of Plymouth 
She had been tossed on a tempestuous ocean ; she ap¬ 
proached the New England coast under circumstances of 
great distress and trouble; yet, amidst all the disasters of 
her voyage, she accomplished her end, and she bore a hun¬ 
dred precious pilgrims to the shore of the New World. 

Gentlemen, let her be considered this night as an emblem 
of New England, the New England which now is. New 
England is a ship, staunch, strong, well built, and particu¬ 
larly well manned. She may be occasionally thrown into 
the trough of the sea by the violence of winds and waves, 
and may wallow there for a time; but, depend upon it, she 
will right herself. She will ere long come round to the wind , 
and obey her helm. 

We have hardly begun, my brethren, to realize the vast 
importance to human society, and to the history and happi¬ 
ness of the world, of the voyage of that little vessel which 
brought hither the love of civil and religious liberty, and 
the reverence of the Bible, for the instruction of the future 
generations of men. We have hardly begun to realize the 
consequences of that voyage. Heretofore the extension of 
our race, following our New England ancestry, has crept 
along the shore. But now it has extended itself. It has 
crossed the continent. It has not only transcended the 
Alleghanies, but has capped the Rocky Mountains. It is 
now upon the shores of the Pacific ; and on this day, or, if 
not on this day, then this day twelvemonth, descendants of 
New England will there celebrate the landing- 

(A Voice. “ To-day ; they celebrate it to-day.”) 

God bless them ! Here’s to the health and success of 
the California Society of Pilgrims assembled on the shores 



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377 


of the Pacific. And it shall yet go hard if the three hun¬ 
dred millions of people of China, provided they are intelli¬ 
gent enough to understand any thing, shall not one day hear 
and know something of the rock of Plymouth too. 

But, gentlemen, I am trespassing too long on your time. 
I am taking too much of what belongs to others. My voice 
is neither a new voice, nor is it the voice of a young man. 
It has been heard before in this place ; and the most that I 
have thought or felt concerning New England history and 
New England principles has been before, in the course of 
my life, said here or elsewhefe. 

Your sentiment, Mr. President, which called me up be¬ 
fore this meeting, is of a larger and more comprehensive 
nature. It speaks of the Constitution under which we live; 
of the Union which has bound us together for sixty years, 
and made us the fellow-citizens of those who settled at 
Yorktown and the mouth of the Mississippi and their de¬ 
scendants, and now, at last, of those who have come from 
all corners of the earth and assembled in California. I con¬ 
fess I have had my doubts whether the republican system 
under which we live could be so vastly extended without 
danger of dissolution. Thus far, I willingly admit, my ap¬ 
prehensions have not been realized. The distance is im¬ 
mense ; the intervening country is vast. But the principle 
on which our government is established, the representa¬ 
tive system, seems to be indefinitely expansive ; and wherev¬ 
er it does extend, it seems to create a strong attachment to 
the Union and the Constitution that protect it. I believe 
California and New Mexico have had new life inspired into 
all their people. They feel themselves partakers of a new 
being, a new creation, a new existence. They are not the 
men they thought themselves to be, now that they find they 
are members of this great government, and hailed as citi¬ 
zens of the United States of America. I hope, in the provi¬ 
dence of God, as this system of States and representative 
governments shall extend, that it will be strengthened. In 
some respects, the tendency is to strengthen it. Local agi¬ 
tations will disturb it less. If there has been on the Atlan¬ 
tic coast, somewhere south of the Potomac, — and I will not 
32* 


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define further where it is, — if there has been dissatisfaction, 
that dissatisfaction has not been felt in California ; it has 
not been felt that side of the Rocky Mountains. It is a 
localism , and I am one of those who believe that our system 
of government is not to be destroyed by localisms , North or 
South. No; we have our private opinions, State prejudices, 
local ideas ; but over all, submerging all, drowning all, is 
that great sentiment, that always, and nevertheless, we are 
all Americans . It is as Americans that we are known, the 
whole world over. Who asks what State you are from, in 
Europe, or in Africa, or in Asia? Is he an American? 
Does he belong to the United States ? Does that flag pro¬ 
tect him ? Does he rest under the eagle and the stars and 
stripes ? If he does, all else is subordinate and of but little 
concern. 

Now it is our duty, while we live on the earth, to cherish 
this sentiment ; to make it prevail over the whole country, 
even if that country should spread over the whole continent. 
It is our duty to carry English principles, I mean, Sir, [turn¬ 
ing to Sir Henry Bulvver,] Anglo-Saxon American princi¬ 
ples, over the whole continent; the great principles of Mag¬ 
na Charta, of the English Revolution, and especially of the 
American Revolution, and of the English language. Our 
children will hear Shakspeare and Milton recited on the 
shores of the Pacific. Nay, before that, American ideas, 
which are essentially and originally English ideas, will pen¬ 
etrate the Mexican, the Spanish mind; and Mexicans and 
Spaniards will thank God that they have been brought to 
know something of.civil liberty, of the trial by jury, and of 
security for personal rights. 

As for the rest, let us take courage. The dayspring 
from on high has visited us; the country has been called 
back to conscience and to duty. There is no longer immi¬ 
nent danger of dissolution in these United States. We shall 
live, and not die. We shall live as United Americans; and 
those who have supposed they could sever us, that they 
could rend one American heart from another, and that 
speculation and hypothesis, that secession and metaphysics, 
could tear us asunder, will find themselves wofully mistaken. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


379 


Let the mind of the sober American people remain sober. 
Let it not inflame itself. Let it do justice to all. And the 
truest course, and the surest course, to disappoint those who 
meditate disunion, is just to leave them to themselves, and 
see what they can make of it. No, Gentlemen ; the time for 
meditated secession is past. Americans, North and South, 
will be hereafter more and more united. There is a stern¬ 
ness and severity in the public mind lately aroused. I be¬ 
lieve that, North and South, there has been, in the last year, 
a renovation of public sentiment, an animated revival of the 
spirit of union, and, more than all, of attachment to the 
Constitution, regarding it as indispensably necessary ; and if 
we would preserve our nationality, it is indispensable that this 
spirit of devotion should be still more largely increased. 
And who doubts it I If we give up that Constitution, what 
are we ? You are a Manhattan man ; I am a Boston man. 
Another is a Connecticut, and another a Rhode Island man. 
Is it not a great deal better, standing hand to hand, and 
clasping hands, that we should remain as we have been for 
sixty years, citizens of the same country, members of the 
same government, united all, united now, and united for 
ever 1 That we shall be , Gentlemen. There have been 
difficulties, contentions, controversies, angry controversies ; 
but I tell you that, in my judgment, — 

“ those opposed eyes, 

Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven, 

All of one nature, of one substance bred, 

Did lately meet in th’ intestine shock, 

Shall now, in mutual, well-beseeming ranks, 

March all one way.” 


0 


RECEPTION AT BUFFALO, N. Y. 

Speech delivered before a large Assembly of the Citizens of Buffalo and the County of 
Erie, at a Public Reception on the 22 d of May, 1851. 

Fellow-Citizens of the City of Buffalo, — I am 
very glad to see you; l meet you with pleasure. It is not 
the first time that I have been in Buffalo, and I have always 
come to it with gratification. It is at a great distance from 


380 


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my own home. I am thankful that circumstances have 
enabled me to be here again, and I regret that untoward 
events deprived me of the pleasure of being with you when 
your distinguished fellow-citizen, the President of the United 
States, visited you, and received from you, as he deserved, 
not only a respectful, but a cordial and enthusiastic welcome. 

Gentlemen, it has been suggested to me that it would be 
agreeable to the citizens of Buffalo, and their neighbors in 
the county of Erie, that I should state to you my opinions, 
whatever may be their value, on the present condition of the 
country, its prospects, its hopes, and its dangers ; and, fel¬ 
low-citizens, I intend to do that, this day, and this hour, as 
far as my strength will permit. 

Gentlemen, there is but one question in this country now ; 
or, if there be others, they are but secondary, or so subordi¬ 
nate that they are all absorbed in that great and leading 
question ; and that is neither more nor less than this : Can 
we preserve the union of the States, not by coercion, not by 
military power, not by angry controversies ; but can we of 
this generation, you and I, your friends and my friends, —• 
can we so preserve the union of these States, by such ad¬ 
ministration of the powers of the Constitution as shall give 
content and satisfaction to all who live under it, and draw us 
together, not by military power, but by the silken cords of 
mutual, fraternal, patriotic affection 1 That is the question, 
and no other. Gentlemen, I believe in party distinctions. 
I am a party man. There are questions belonging to party 
in which I take an interest, and there are opinions enter¬ 
tained by other parties which I repudiate ; but what of all 
that 1 If a house be divided against itself, it will fall, and 
crush every body in it. We must see that we maintain the 
government which is over us. We must see that we uphold 
the Constitution, and we must do so without regard to party. 

The question, fellow-citizens, (and I put it to you now as 
the real question,) the question is, whether you and the rest 
of the people of the great State of New York, and of all 
the States, will so adhere to the Constitution, will so enact 
and maintain laws to preserve that instrument, that you will 
not only remain in the Union yourselves, but permit your 


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381 


brethren to remain in it, and help to perpetuate it ? That 
is the question. Will you concur in measures necessary to 
maintain the Union, or will you oppose such measures 1 
That is the whole point of the case. 

There are thirty or forty members of Congress from New 
York ; you have your proportion in the United States Senate. 
We have many members of Congress from New England. 
Will they maintain the laws that are passed for the adminis¬ 
tration of the Constitution, and respect the rights of the 
South, so that the Union may be held together; and not 
only so that we may not go out of it ourselves, which we 
are not inclined to do, but so that, by maintaining the rights 
of others, they may also remain in the Union 1 Now, Gen¬ 
tlemen, permit me to say, that I speak of no concessions. 
If the South wish any concession from me, they will not 
get it; not a hair’s breadth of it. If they come to my 
house for it, they will not find it, and the door will be shut; 
I concede nothing. But I say that I vvili maintain for them, 
as I will maintain for you, to the utmost of my power, and 
in the face of all danger, their rights under the Constitution, 
and your rights under the Constitution. And I shall never 
be found to falter in one or the other. It is obvious to every 
one, and we all know it, that the origin of the great dis¬ 
turbance which agitates the country is the existence of sla¬ 
very in some of the States; but we must meet the subject; 
we must consider it; we must deal with it earnestly, hon¬ 
estly, and justly. From the mouth of the St. John to the 
confines of Florida, there existed, in 1775, thirteen colonies 
of English origin, planted at different times, and coming 
from different parts of England, bringing with them various 
habits, and establishing, each for itself, institutions entirely 
different from the institutions which they left, and in many 
cases from each other. But they were all of English origin. 
The English language was theirs, Shakspeare and Milton 
were theirs, the common law of England was theirs, and the 
Christian religion was theirs; and these things held them 
together by the force of a common character. The aggres¬ 
sions of the parent state compelled them to assert their in¬ 
dependence. They declared independence, and that immor- 


382 


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tal act, pronounced on the 4th of July, 1776, made them 
independent. 

That was an act of union by the United States in Con¬ 
gress assembled. But this act of itself did nothing to estab¬ 
lish over them a general government. They had a Congress. 
They had Articles of Confederation to prosecute the war. 
But thus far they were still, essentially, separate and inde¬ 
pendent each of the other. They had entered into a simple 
confederacy, and nothing more. No State was bound by 
what it did not itself agree to, or what was done according 
to the provisions of the confederation. That was the state 
of things, Gentlemen, at that time. The war went on ; vic¬ 
tory crowned the American arms ; our independence was 
acknowledged. The States were then united together under 
a confederacy of very limited powers. It could levy no 
taxes. It could not enforce its own decrees. It was a con¬ 
federacy, instead of a united government. Experience 
showed that this was insufficient and inefficient. Accord¬ 
ingly, beginning as far back almost as the close of the war, 
measures were taken for the formation of a united govern¬ 
ment, a government in the strict sense of the term, a gov¬ 
ernment that could pass laws binding on the individual citi¬ 
zens of all the States, and which could enforce those laws 
by its executive powers, having them interpreted by a judi¬ 
cial power belonging to the government itself, and yet a gov¬ 
ernment strictly limited in its nature. Well, Gentlemen, 
this led to the formation of the Constitution of the United 
States, and that instrument was framed on the idea of a 
limited government. It proposed to leave, and did leave, the 
different domestic institutions of the several States to them¬ 
selves. It did not propose consolidation. It did not pro¬ 
pose that the laws of Virginia should be the laws of New 
York, or that the laws of New York should be the laws of 
Massachusetts. It proposed only that, for certain purposes 
and to a certain extent, there should be a united govern¬ 
ment, and that that government should have the power 
of executing its own laws. All the rest was left to the 
several States. 

We now come, Gentlemen, to the very point of the case. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


383 


At that time slavery existed in the Southern States, entailed 
upon them in the time of the supremacy of British laws 
over us. There it was. It was obnoxious to the Middle 
and Eastern States, and honestly and seriously disliked, as 
the records of the country will show, by the Southern States 
themselves. Now, how was it to be dealt with ? Were the 
Northern and Middle States to exclude from the government 
those States of the South which had produced a Washing¬ 
ton, a Laurens, and other distinguished patriots, who had so 
truly served, and so greatly honored, the whole country ? 
W ere they to be excluded from the new government because 
they tolerated the institution of slavery ? Your fathers and 
my fathers did not think so. They did not see that it would 
be of the least advantage, to the slaves of the Southern 
States, to cut off’ the South from all connection with the 
North. Their views of humanity led to no such result; 
and of course, when the Constitution was framed and estab¬ 
lished, and adopted by you, here in New York, and by New 
England, it contained an express provision of security to the 
persons who lived in the Southern States, in regard to fugi¬ 
tives who owed them service ; that is to say, it was stipu¬ 
lated that the fugitive from service or labor should be restored 
to his master or owner if he escaped into a free State. Well, 
that had been the history of the country from its first settle¬ 
ment. It was a matter of common practice to return fugi¬ 
tives before the Constitution was formed. Fugitive slaves 
from Virginia to Massachusetts were restored by the people 
of Massachusetts. At that day there was a great system 
of apprenticeship at the North, and many apprentices at the 
North, taking advantage of circumstances, and of vessels 
sailing to the South, thereby escaped ; and they were re¬ 
stored on proper claim and proof. That led to a clear, ex¬ 
press, and well-defined provision in the Constitution of the 
country on the subject. Now I am aware that all these 
things are well known ; that they have been stated a thou¬ 
sand times ; but in these days of perpetual discontent and 
misrepresentation, to state things a thousand times is not 
enough ; for there are persons whose consciences, it would 


384 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


seem, lead them to consider it their duty to deny, misrepre¬ 
sent, falsify, and cover up truths. 

Now these are words of the Constitution, fellow-citizens, 
which I have taken the pains to transcribe therefrom, so that 
he who runs may read : — 

“No PERSON HELD TO SERVICE OR LABOR IN ONE 
State, under the laws thereof, escaping into 

ANOTHER, SHALL, IN CONSEQUENCE OF ANY LAW OR REG¬ 
ULATION THEREIN, BE DISCHARGED FROM SUCH SERVICE 
OR LABOR, BUT SHALL BE DELIVERED UP ON CLAIM OF 
THE PARTY TO WHOM SUCH SERVICE OR LABOR MAY BE 
DUE.” 

Is there any mistake about that ? Is there any forty¬ 
shilling attorney here to make a question of it ? No. I 
will not disgrace my profession by supposing such a thing. 
There is not, in or out of an attorney’s office in the county 
of Erie, or elsewhere, one who could raise a doubt, or a 
particle of a doubt, about the meaning of this provision of 
the Constitution. He may act as witnesses do, sometimes, 
on the stand. He may wriggle, and twist, and say he can¬ 
not tell, or cannot remember. I have seen many such ef¬ 
forts in my time, on the part of witnesses, to falsify and 
deny the truth. But there is no man who can read these 
words of the Constitution of the United States, and say they 
are not clear and imperative. “ No person,” the Constitu¬ 
tion says, “held to service or labor in one State, under the 
laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of 
any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such 
service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the 
party to whom such service or labor may be due.” Why, 
you may be told by forty conventions in Massachusetts, in 
Ohio, in New York, or elsewhere, that, if a colored man 
comes here, he comes as a freeman ; that is a non sequitur. 
It is not so. If he comes as a fugitive from labor, the Con¬ 
stitution says he is not a freeman, and that he shall be de¬ 
livered up to tli£>se who are entitled to his service. 

Gentlemen, that is the Constitution of the United States. 
Do we, or do we not, mean to conform to it, and to execute 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


385 


that part of the Constitution as well as the rest of it ? I 
believe there are before me here members of Congress. 
I suppose there may be here members of the State legis¬ 
lature, or executive officers under the State government. 
I suppose there may be judicial magistrates of New York, 
executive officers, assessors, supervisors, justices of the 
peace, and constables before me. Allow me to say, Gentle¬ 
men, that there is not, that there cannot be, any one of these 
officers in this assemblage, or elsewhere, who has not, ac¬ 
cording to the form of the usual obligation, bound himself 
by a solemn oath to support the Constitution. They have 
taken their oaths on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, 
or by uplifted hand, as the case may be, or by a solemn af¬ 
firmation, as is the practice in some cases; but among all 
of them, there is not a man who holds, nor is there any 
man who can hold, any office in the gift of the United States, 
or of this State, or of any other State, who does not bind 
himself, by the solemn obligation of an oath, to support the 
Constitution of the United States. Well, is he to tamper 
with that ? Is he to. palter 1 Gentlemen, our political 
duties are as much matters of conscience as any other 
duties; our sacred domestic ties, our most endearing social 
relations, are no more the subjects for conscientious consid¬ 
eration and conscientious discharge, than the duties we enter 
upon under the Constitution of the United States. The 
bonds of political brotherhood, which hold us together from 
Maine to Georgia, rest upon the same principles of obliga¬ 
tion as those of domestic and social life. 

Then there was the other matter, and that was the Fugi¬ 
tive Slave Law. Let me say a word about that. Under the 
provisions of the Constitution, during Washington’s admin¬ 
istration, in the year 1793, there was passed, by general 
consent, a law for the restoration of fugitive slaves. Hardly 
any one opposed it at that period ; it was thought to be 
necessary, in order to carry the Constitution into effect; the 
great men of New England and New York„all concurred in 
it. It passed, and answered all the purposes expected from 
it, till about the year 1841 or 1842, when the States inter¬ 
fered to make enactments in opposition to it. The act of 
33 


386 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


Congress said that State magistrates might execute the 
duties of the law. Some of the States passed enactments 
imposing a penalty on any State officers who exercised 
authority under the law, or assisted in its execution ; others 
denied the use of their jails to carry the law into effect; 
and, in general, at the commencement of the year 185!), it 
had become absolutely indispensable that Congress should 
pass some law for the execution of this provision of the 
Constitution, or else give up that provision entirely. That 
was the question. I was in Congress when it was brought 
forward. I was for a proper law. 1 had, indeed, proposed 
a different law ; I was of opinion that a summary trial by a 
jury might be had, which would satisfy the people of the 
North, and produce no harm to those who claimed the ser¬ 
vice of fugitives; but 1 left the Senate, and went to another 
station, before any law was passed. The law of 1859 
passed. Now I undertake, as a lawyer, and on my pro¬ 
fessional character, to say to you, and to all, that the law 
of 1859 is decidedly more favorable to the fugitive than 
General Washington’s law of 1793; and 1 will tell you why. 
In the first place, the present law places the power in much 
higher hands; in the hands of independent judges of the 
Supreme and Circuit Courts, and District Courts, and of 
commissioners who are 1 appointed to office for their legal 
learning. Every fugitive is brought before a tribunal of 
high character, of eminent ability, of respectable station. 
In the second place, when a claimant comes from Virginia 
to New York, to say that one A or one B has run away, or 
is a fugitive from service or labor, he brings with him a 
record of the court of the county from which he comes, 
and that record must be sworn to before a magistrate, and 
certified by the county clerk, and bear an official seal. The 
affidavit must state that A or B had departed under such and 
such circumstances, and had gone to another State ; and 
that record under seal is, by the Constitution of the United 
States, entitled to full credit in every State. Well, the 
claimant or his agent comes here, and he presents to you 
the seal of the court in Virginia, affixed to a record of his 
declaration, that A or B had escaped from service. He 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


387 


must then prove that the fugitive is here. He brings a wit¬ 
ness ; he is asked if this is the man, and he proves it; or, 
in nine cases out of ten, the fact would be admitted by the 
fugitive himself. 

Such is the present law; and, much opposed and ma¬ 
ligned as it is, it is more favorable to the fugitive slave than 
the law enacted during Washington’s administration, in 1793, 
which was sanctioned by the North as well as by the South. 
The present violent opposition has sprung up in modern 
times. From whom does this clamor come ? Why, look at 
the proceedings of the anti-slavery conventions; look at 
their resolutions. Do you find among those persons who 
oppose this Fugitive Slave Law any admission whatever, 
that any law ought to be passed to carry into effect the 
solemn stipulations of the Constitution 1 Tell me any such 
case; tell me if any resolution was adopted by the conven¬ 
tion at Syracuse favorable to the carrying out of the Con¬ 
stitution. Not one ! The fact is, Gentlemen, they oppose 
the constitutional provision ; they oppose the whole ! Not 
a man of them admits that there ought to be any law on 
the subject. They deny, altogether, that the provisions of 
the Constitution ought to be carried into effect. Look at 
the proceedings of the anti-slavery conventions in Ohio, 
Massachusetts, and at Syracuse, in the State of New York. 
What do they say 1 “ That, so help them God, no colored 

man shall be sent from the State of New York back to his 
master in Virginia ! ” Do not they say that ? And, to the 
fulfilment of that they “pledge their lives, their fortunes, 
and their sacred honor.” Their sacred honor! They 
pledge their sacred honor to violate the Constitution; they 
pledge their sacred honor to commit treason against the 
laws of their country! 

I have already stated, Gentlemen, what your observation 
of these things must have taught you. I will only recur to 
the subject for a moment, for the purpose of persuading 
you, as public men and private men, as good men and pa¬ 
triotic men, that you ought, to the extent of your ability and 
influence, to see to it that such laws are established and 
maintained as shall keep you, and the South, and the West, 


388 


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and all the country, together, on the terms of the Constitu¬ 
tion. I say, that what is demanded of us is to fulfil our 
constitutional duties, and to do for the South what the South 
has a right to demand. 

Gentlemen, I have been some time before the public. 
My character is known, my life is before the country. I 
profess to love liberty as much as any man living; but I 
profess to love American liberty, that liberty which is 
secured to the country by the government under which we 
live; and I have no great opinion of that other and higher 
liberty which disregards the restraints of law and of the 
Constitution. I hold the Constitution of the United States 
to be the bulwark, the only bulwark, of our liberties and of 
our national character. I do not mean that you should be¬ 
come slaves under the Constitution. That is not American 
liberty. That is not the liberty of the Union for which our 
fathers fought, that liberty which has given us a right to 
be known and respected all over the world. I mean only 
to say, that I am for constitutional liberty. It is enough 
for me to be as free as the Constitution of the country 
makes me. 

Now, Gentlemen, let me say, that, as much as I respect 
the character of the people of Western New York, as much 
as I wish to retain their good opinion, if I should ever here¬ 
after be placed in any situation in public life, let me tell you 
now that you must not expect from me the slightest varia¬ 
tion, even of a hair’s breadth, from the Constitution of the 
United States. I am a Northern man. I was born at the 
North, educated at the North, have lived all my days at the 
North. I know five hundred Northern men to one South¬ 
ern man. My sympathies, all my sympathies, my love of 
liberty for all mankind, of every color, are the same as 
yours. My affections and hopes in that respect are exactly 
like yours. I wish to see all men free, all men happy. I 
have few personal associations out of the Northern States. 
My people are your people. And yet I am told sometimes 
that I am not a friend of liberty, because I am not a Free 
Soil man. What am I ? What was I ever ? What shall 
I be hereafter, if I could sacrifice, for any consideration, 



SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


389 


that love of American liberty which has glowed in my breast 
since my infancy, and which, I hope, will never leave me 
till I expire ? 

Gentlemen, I regret that slavery exists in the Southern 
States; but it is clear and certain that Congress has no 
power over it. It may be, however, that, in the dispensa¬ 
tions ot Providence, some remedy for this evil may occur, 
or may be hoped for hereafter. But, in the mean time, I 
hold to the Constitution of the United States, and you need 
never expect from me, under any circumstances, that I shall 
falter from it; that I shall be otherwise than frank and de¬ 
cisive. I would not part with my character as a man of 
firmness and decision, and honor and principle, for all that 
the world possesses. You will find me true to the North, 
because all my sympathies are with the North. My affec¬ 
tions, my children, my hopes, my every thing, are with the 
North. But when I stand up before my country, as one ap¬ 
pointed to administer the Constitution of the country, by the 
blessing of God I will be just. 

Gentlemen, I expect to be libelled and abused. Yes, 
libelled and abused. But it does not disturb me. I have 
not lost a night’s rest for a great many years from any such 
cause. I have some talent for sleeping. And why should I 
not expect to be libelled ? Is not the Constitution of the 
United States libelled and abused? Do not some people 
call it a covenant with hell ? Is not Washington libelled 
and abused ? Is he not called a bloodhound on the track 
of the African negro ? Are not our fathers libelled and 
abused by their own children ? And ungrateful children 
they are. How, then, shall I escape ? I do not expect to 
escape; but, knowing these things, I impute no bad motive 
to any men of character and fair standing. The great set¬ 
tlement measures of the last Congress are laws. Many 
respectable men, representatives from your own State and 
from other States, did not concur in them. I do not impute 
any bad motive to them. I am ready to believe they are 
Americans all. They may not have thought these laws 
necessary; or they may have thought that they would be 
enacted without their concurrence. Let all that pass away. 
33* 


i 


390 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 

If they are now men who will stand by what is done, and 
stand up for their country, and say that, as these laws were 
passed by a majority of the whole country, we must stand 
by them and live by them, I will respect them all as friends. 

Now, Gentlemen, allow me to ask of you, What do you 
think would have been the condition of the country, at this 
time, if these laws had not been passed by the last Con¬ 
gress ? if the question of the Texas boundary had not been 
settled 1 if New Mexico and Utah had been left as desert- 
places, and no government had been provided for them 1 
And if the other great object to which State laws had 
opposed so many obstacles, the restoration of fugitives, had 
not been provided for, I ask, what would have been the 
state of this country now ? You men of Erie County, you 
men of New York, I conjure you to go home to-night and 
meditate on this subject. What would have been the state 
of this country, now, at this moment, if these laws had not 
been passed ? I have given my opinion that we should have 
had a civil war. I refer it to you, therefore, for your con¬ 
sideration ; meditate on it; do not be carried away by any 
abstract notions or metaphysical ideas; think practically on 
the great question, What would have been the condition of 
the United States at this moment, if we had not settled 
these agitating questions 1 I repeat, in my opinion, there 
would have been a civil war. 

Gentlemen, in this state of things, I saw that something 
must be done. It was impossible to look with indifference 
on a danger of so formidable a character. I am a Massa¬ 
chusetts man, and I bore in mind what Massachusetts has 
ever been to the Constitution and the Union. I felt the 
importance of the duty which devolved upon one to whom 
she had so long confided the trust of representing her in 
either house of Congress. As I honored her, and respected 
her, I felt that I was serving her in my endeavors to pro¬ 
mote the welfare of the whole country. 

And now suppose, Gentlemen, that, on the occasion in 
question, I had taken a different course. If I may allude 
so particularly to an individual so insignificant as myself, 
suppose that, on the 7th of March, 1850, instead of making 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


391 


a speech that would, so far as my power went, reconcile the 
country, I had joined in the general clamor of the Anti-sla¬ 
very party. Suppose I had said, “ I will have nothing to 
do with any accommodation ; we will admit no compromise; 
we will let Texas invade New Mexico ; we will leave New 
Mexico and Utah to take care of themselves; we will plant 
ourselves on the Wilmot Proviso, let the consequences be 
what they may.” Now, Gentlemen, I do not mean to say 
that great consequences would have followed from such a 
course on my part; but suppose I had taken such a course. 
How could I be blamed for it ? Was I not a Northern 
man 1 Did I not know Massachusetts feelings and preju¬ 
dices ? But what of that ? I am an American. I was 
made a whole man, and I did not mean to make myself 
half a one. I felt that I had a duty to perform to my coun¬ 
try, to my own reputation; for I flattered myself that a ser¬ 
vice of forty years had given me some character, on which 
I had a right to repose for my justification in the perform¬ 
ance of a duty attended with some degree of local unpopu¬ 
larity. I thought it my duty to pursue this course, and I 
did not care what was to be the consequence. I felt it was 
my duty, in a very alarming crisis, to come out; to go for 
my country, and my whole country; and to exert any 
power I had to keep that country together. I cared for 
nothing, I was afraid of nothing, but I meant to do my 
duty. Duty performed makes a man happy; duty neglected 
makes a man unhappy. I therefore, in the face of all dis¬ 
couragements and all dangers, was ready to go forth and do 
what I thought my country, your country, demanded of me. 
And, Gentlemen, allow me to say here to-day, that if the 
fate of John Rogers had stared me in the face, if I had seen 
the stake, if I had heard the fagots already crackling, by 
the blessing of Almighty God I would have gone on and 
discharged the duty which I thought my country called upon 
me to perform. I would have become a martyr to save that 
country. 

And now, Gentlemen, farewell. Live and be happy. 
Live like patriots, live like Americans. Live in the enjoy¬ 
ment of the inestimable blessings which your fathers pre- 


392 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


pared for you; and if any thing that I may do hereafter 
should be inconsistent, in the slightest degree, with the opin¬ 
ions and principles which I have this day submitted to you, 
then discard me for ever from your recollection. 

- + - 

SFEECH TO THE YOUNG MEN OF ALBANY, N. Y. 

Delivered on the 28 th of May, 1851, at the Invitation of the Young Men of Albany, in the 
Public Square of the Capitol in that City. 

Fellow-Citizens, — I owe the honor of this occasion, 
and I esteem it an uncommon and extraordinary honor, to 
the young men of this city of Albany, and it is my first duty 
to express to these young men my grateful thanks for the 
respect they have manifested towards me. Nevertheless, 
young men of Albaby, I do not mistake you or your object, 
or your purpose. I am proud to take to myself whatever 
may properly belong to me, as a token of personal and po¬ 
litical regard on your part. But I know, young men of 
Albany, it is not I, but the cause; it is not I, but your own 
generous attachments to your country ; it is not I, but the 
Constitution of the Union, which has bound together your 
ancestors and mine, and all of us, for more than half a cen¬ 
tury,— it is this that has brought you here to-day, to testify 
your regard toward one who, to the best of his humble 
ability, has sustained that cause before the country. Go on, 
young men of Albany ! Go on, young men of the United 
States ! Early manhood is the chief prop and support, the 
great reliance and hope, for the preservation of public lib¬ 
erty and the institutions of the land. Early manhood is in¬ 
genuous, generous, just. It looks forward to a long life of 
honor or dishonor, and it means that it shall, by the blessing 
of God, be a life of honor, of usefulness, and success, in 
all the professions and pursuits of life, and that it shall close, 
when close it must, with some claim to the gratitude of the 
country. Go on, then ; uphold the institutions under which 
you were born. You are manly and bold. You fear noth¬ 
ing but to do wrong ; dread nothing but to be found recreant 
to your country. 




SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 393 

Gentlemen, I certainly had no expectation of appearing 
before such an assemblage as this to-day. It is not probable 
that, for a long time to con^p, I may again address any large 
meeting of my fellow-citizens. If I should not, and if this 
should be the last, or among the last, of all the occasions on 
which I am to appear before any great number of the people 
of the country, I shall not regret that that appearance was 
here. I find myself in the political capital of the greatest, 
most commercial, most powerful State of the Union. I 
find myself here by the invitation of persons of the highest 
respectability, without distinction of party. I consider the 
occasion as somewhat august. I know that among those 
who now listen to me there are some of the wisest, the best, 
the most patriotic, and the most experienced public and pri¬ 
vate men in the State of New York. Here are governors 
and ex-governors, here are judges and ex-judges, of high 
character and high station; and here are persons from all 
the walks of professional and private life, distinguished for 
talent, and virtue, and eminence. Fellow-citizens, before 
such an assemblage, and on such an invitation, I feel bound 
to guard every opinion and every expression ; to speak with 
precision such sentiments as I advance, and to be careful in 
all that I say, that I may not be misapprehended or misrep¬ 
resented. 

I am requested, fellow-citizens, by those who invited me, 
to express my sentiments on the state of public affairs in 
this country, and the interesting questions which are before 
us. This proves, Gentlemen, that in their opinion there are 
questions sometimes arising which range above all party, 
and all the influences and considerations and interests of 
party. It proves more ; it proves that, in their judgment, 
this is a time in which public affairs rise in importance 
above the range of party, and draw to them an interest 
paramount to all party considerations. If this be not so, I 
am here without object, and you are listening to me for no 
purpose whatever. 

Then, Gentlemen, what is the condition of public affairs 
which makes it necessary and proper for men to meet, and 
confer together on the state of the country 1 What are the 


394 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


questions which are transcending, subduing, and overwhelm¬ 
ing party, inciting honest, well-meaning persons to lay party 
aside, and to meet and confer* for the general weal 1 I 
shall, of course, not enter at large into many of these 
questions, nor into any lengthened discussion of the state 
of public affairs, but shall endeavor in general to state 
what that condition is, what those questions are, and to 
pronounce a conscientious judgment of my own upon the 
whole. 

The last Congress, fellow-citizens, passed laws called ad¬ 
justment measures, or settlement measures; laws intended 
to put an end to certain internal and domestic controversies 
existing in the country, and some of which had existed for 
a long time. These laws were passed by the constitutional 
majorities of both houses of Congress. They received the 
constitutional approbation of the President. They are the 
laws of the land. To some or all of them, indeed to all of 
them, at the time of their passage, there existed warm and 
violent opposition. None of them passed without heated 
discussion. Government was established in each of the 
Territories of New Mexico and Utah, but not without oppo¬ 
sition. The boundary of Texas was settled by compromise 
with that State, but not without determined and earnest re¬ 
sistance. These laws all passed, however, and, as they have 
now become, from the nature of the case, irrepealable, it is 
not necessary that I should detain you by discussing their 
merits or demerits. Nevertheless, Gentlemen, I desire, on 
this and all public occasions, in the clearest and most em¬ 
phatic manner, to declare, that I hold some of these laws, 
and especially that which provided for the adjustment of the 
controversy with Texas, to have been essential to the pres¬ 
ervation of the public peace. 

I will not now argue that point, nor lay before you at 
length the circumstances which existed at that time; the 
peculiar situation of things in so many of the Southern 
States ; the fact that many of those States had adopted 
measures for the separation of the Union ; or the fact that 
Texas was preparing to assert her claims to territory which 
New Mexico thought was hers by right, and that hundreds 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


395 


and thousands of men, tired of the ordinary pursuits of pri¬ 
vate life, were ready to rise and unite in any enterprise that 
might offer itself to them, even at the risk of a direct con¬ 
flict with the authority of this government. I say, therefore, 
without going into the argument with any detail, that in 
March of 1850, when I found it my duty to address Con¬ 
gress on these important topics, it was my conscientious be¬ 
lief, and it still remains unshaken, that if the controversy 
with Texas could not be amicably adjusted, there must, in 
all probability, be civil war and bloodshed ; and in the con¬ 
templation of such a prospect, although we took it for 
granted that no opposition could arise to the authority of the 
United States that would not be suppressed, it appeared of 
little consequence on which standard victory should perch. 
But what of that ? I was not anxious about military conse¬ 
quences ; I looked to the civil and political state of tilings, 
and their results, and I inquired what would be the condition 
of the country, if, in this state of agitation, if, in this vastly- 
extended, though not generally-pervading feeling at the 
South, war should break out and bloodshed should ensue in 
that quarter of the Union ? That was enough for me to 
inquire into and consider; and if the chances had been but 
one in a thousand that civil war would be the result, I should 
still have felt that that one thousandth chance should be 
guarded against by any reasonable sacrifice, because, Gentle¬ 
men, sanguine as I am of the future prosperity of the coun¬ 
try, strongly as I believe now, after what has passed, and es¬ 
pecially after the enactment of those measures to which I 
have referred, that it is likely to hold together, I yet believe 
firmly that this Union, once broken, is utterly incapable, ac¬ 
cording to all human experience, of being reconstructed in 
its original character, of being recemented by any chemistry, 
or art, or effort, or skill of man. 

Now, then, Gentlemen, let us pass from those measures 
which are now accomplished and settled. California is in 
the Union, and cannot be got out; the Texas boundary is 
settled, and cannot be disturbed ; Utah and New Mexico 
are Territories, under provision of law, according to accus- 


396 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


tomed usage in former cases; and these things may be re¬ 
garded as finally adjusted. But then there was another 
subject, equally agitating and equally irritating, which, in its 
nature, must always be subject to reconsideration or proposed 
amendment, and that is, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, 
passed at the same session of Congress. 

Allow me to advert, very shortly, to what I consider the 
ground of that law. You know, and I know, that it was 
very much opposed in the Northern States; sometimes with 
argument not unfair, often by mere ebullition of party, and 
often by those whirlwinds of fanaticism that raise a dust and 
blind the eyes, but produce no other effect. Now, Gentle¬ 
men, this question of the propriety of the Fugitive Slave 
Law, or the enactment of some such law, is a question that 
must be met. Its enemies will not let it sleep or slumber. 
They will “ give neither sleep to their eyes nor slumber to 
their eyelids ” so long as they can agitate it before the peo¬ 
ple. It is with them a topic, a desirable topic, and all who 
have much experience in political affairs know that, for party 
men and in party times, there is hardly any thing so desira¬ 
ble as a topic. Now, Gentlemen, I am ready to meet this 
question. I am ready to meet it, and ready to say that it 
was right, proper, expedient, and just that a suitable law 
should be passed for the restoration of fugitive slaves, found 
in free States, to their owners in slave States. I am ready 
to say that, because I only repeat the words of the Con¬ 
stitution itself, and I am not afraid of being considered 
a plagiarist, nor a feeble imitator of other men’s language 
and sentiments, when I repeat and announce to every part 
of the Union, to you, here, and at all times, the language 
of the Constitution of my country. 

Gentlemen, at the period of the Revolution, slavery ex¬ 
isted in the Southern States, and had existed there for more 
than a hundred years. We of the North were not guilty 
of its introduction. That generation of men, even in the 
South, were not guilty of it. It had been introduced ac¬ 
cording to the policy of the mother country, before the 
United States were independent; indeed, before there were 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


397 


any authorities in the Colonies competent to resist it. Why, 
Gentlemen, men’s opinions have so changed on this subject, 
and properly, the world has come to hold sentiments so much 
more just, that we can hardly believe, what is certainly true, 
that at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, the English 
government insisted on the fulfilment, to its full extent, of a 
condition in the treaty of the Asiento, signed at Utrecht, in 
1713, by which the Spanish government had granted the un¬ 
qualified and exclusive privilege to the British government 
of importing slaves into the Spanish colonies in America! 
That was not then repugnant to public sentiment; happily, 
such a contract would be execrated now. 

I allude to this only to show that the introduction of sla¬ 
very into the Southern States is not to be visited upon the 
generation that achieved the independence of this country. 
On the contrary, all the eminent men of that day regretted 
its existence. And you, my young friends of Albany, if you 
will take the pains to go back to the debates of the period, 
from the meeting of the first Congress, in 1774, I mean the 
Congress of the Confederation, to the adoption of the pres¬ 
ent Constitution, and the enactment of the first laws under 
it, — you, or any body who will make that necessary re¬ 
search, will find that Southern men and Southern States, as 
represented in Congress, lamented the existence of slavery 
in far more earnest and emphatic terms than the Northern ; 
for, though it did exist in the Northern States, it was a feeble 
taper, just going out, soon to end, and nothing was feared 
from it, while leading men of the South, and especially of 
Virginia, felt and acknowledged that it was a moral and po¬ 
litical evil; that it weakened the arm of the freeman, and 
kept back the progress and success of free labor; and they 
said with truth, and all history verifies the observation, “ that 
if the shores of the Chesapeake had been made as free to 
free labor as the shores of the North River, New York 
might have been great, but Virginia would have been great 
also.” That was the sentiment. 

Now under this state of things, Gentlemen, when the 
Constitution was framed, its framers, and the people who 
adopted it, came to a clear, express, unquestionable stipula- 
. 34 


39S 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


tion and compact. There had been an ancient practice, a 
practice a century old, for aught I know, according to which 
fugitives from service, whether apprentices at the North or 
slaves at the South, should be restored. Massachusetts had 
restored fugitive slaves to Virginia long before the adoption 
of the Constitution, and it is well known that in other 
States, in which slavery did or did not exist, they were 
restored also, on proper application. And it was held that 
any man could pursue his slave and take him wherever he 
could find him. Under this state of things, it was expressly 
stipulated, in the plainest language, and there it stands,— 
sophistry cannot gloss it, it cannot be erased from the page 
of the Constitution; there it stands, — that persons held to 
service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escap¬ 
ing into another, shall not, in consequence of any law or 
regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, 
but shall be delivered up upon claim of the party to whom 
such service or labor shall be due. This was adopted with¬ 
out dissent; it was nowhere objected to, North or South, 
but considered as a matter of absolute right and justice to 
the Southern States, and concurred in every where, by every 
State that adopted the Constitution ; and we look in vain for 
any opposition to it, from Massashusetts to Georgia. 

This, then, being the case, this being the provision of the 
Constitution, it was found necessary, in General Washing¬ 
ton’s tifne, to pass a law to carry that provision of the Con¬ 
stitution into effect. Such a law was prepared and passed. 
It was prepared by a gentleman from a Northern State. It 
is said to have been drawn up by Mr. Cabot, of Massachu¬ 
setts. It was supported by him, and by Mr. Goodhue, and 
by Mr. Sedgwick, of Massachusetts, and generally by all the 
free States. It passed without a division in the Senate, and 
with but seven votes against it in the House. It went into 
operation, and for a time it satisfied the just rights and 
expectations of every body. That law provided that its * 
enactments should be carried into effect mainly by State 
magistrates, justices of the peace, judges of State courts, 
sheriffs, and other organs of State authority. So things 
went on, without loud complaints from any quarter, until 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


399 


some fifteen years* ago, when some of the States, the free 
States, thought it proper to pass laws prohibiting their own 
magistrates and officers from executing this law of Congress, 
under heavy penalties, and refusing to the United States 
authorities the use of their prisons for the detention of per¬ 
sons arrested as fugitive slaves. That is to say, these States 
passed acts defeating the law of Congress, as far as it was 
in their power to defeat it. Those of them to which I refer, 
not all, but several, nullified the law of 1793 entirely. They 
said, in effect, “ We will not execute it. No runaway slave 
shpll be restored.” Thus the law became a dead letter, an 
entire dead letter. But here was the constitutional com¬ 
pact, nevertheless, still binding; here was the stipulation, as 
solemn as words could form it, and which every member of 
Congress, every officer of the general government, every 
officer of the State governments, from governors down to 
constables, is sworn to support. Well, under this state of 
things, in 1850, I was of opinion that common justice and 
good faith called upon us to make a law, fair, reasonable, 
equitable, and just, that should be calculated to carry this 
constitutional provision into effect, and give the Southern 
States what they were entitled to, and what it was intended 
originally they should receive, that is, the fair, right, and 
reasonable means to recover their fugitives from service from 
the States into which they had fled. I was of opinion that 
it was the bounden duty of Congress to pass such a law. 
The South insisted they had a right to it, and 1 thought they 
properly so insisted. It was no concession, no yielding of 
any thing, no giving up of any thing. When called on to 
fulfil a compact, the question is, Will you fulfil it 1 And, 
for one, 1 was ready. I said, “ I will fulfil it by any fair 
and reasonable act of legislation.” 

Now, the law of 1850 had two objects, both of which 
were accomplished. First, it was to make the law more 
favorable for the fugitive than the law of 1793. It did so, 
because it called for a record, under seal, from 9 court in 
the State from which the fugitive came, proving the fact that 
he was a fugitive, so that nothing should be left, when pur¬ 
sued into a free State, but to produce the proof of his iden- 


400 


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tity. Besides this, it secured a higher tribunal, and it 
placed the power in more responsible hands. The judges 
of the Supreme and District Courts of the United States, 
and learned persons appointed by them as commissioners, 
were to sqp to the execution of the law. It was, accord¬ 
ingly, a law more favorable, in all respects, to the fugitive, 
than the law passed under General Washington’s administra¬ 
tion in 1793. The second object was to carry the consti¬ 
tutional provision into effect by the authority of law, seeing 
that the States had prevented the execution of the former 
law. 

The Constitution of the United States consists in a series 
of mutual agreements or compromises, one thing being 
yielded by the South, another by the North ; the general 
mind having been brought together, and the whole agreed 
to, as I have said, as a series of compromises constituting 
one whole. Well, Gentlemen, who does not see that? Had 
the North no particular interest to be regarded and pro¬ 
tected 1 Had the North no peculiar interest of its own ? 
Was nothing yielded by the South to the North ? Gentle¬ 
men, you are proud citizens of a great commercial State. 
You know that New York ships float over the whole globe, 
and bring abundance of riches to your own shores. You 
know that this is the result of the commercial policy of the 
United States, and of the commercial power vested in Con¬ 
gress by the Constitution. And how was this commerce 
established ? by what constitutional provisions, and for whose 
benefit ? The South was never a commercial country. The 
plantation States were never commercial. Their interest 
always was, as they thought, what they think it to be now, 
free trade, the unrestricted admission of foreigners in com¬ 
petition in all branches of business with our own people. 
But what did they do ? They agreed to form a 'government 
that should regulate commerce according to the wants and 
wishes of the Northern States, and when the Constitution 
went into operation, a commercial system was actually estab¬ 
lished, on which has risen up the \’vhole glory of New York 
and New England. How was this effected ? What did 
Congress do under a Northern lead with Southern acquies- 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


401 


cence ? What did it do ? It protected the commerce of 
New York and the Eastern States, by preference, by dis¬ 
criminating tonnage duties; and that higher duty on foreign 
ships lias never been surrendered to this day except in con¬ 
sideration of a just equivalent; so, in that respect, without 
grudging or complaint on the part of the South, but gener¬ 
ously and fairly, not by way of concession, but in the true 
spirit of the Constitution, the commerce, of New York and 
the New England States was protected by the provision 
of the Constitution to which I have referred. But that is 
not all. 

Friends! fellow-citizens! men of New York! does this 
country not now extend from Maine to Mexico, and be¬ 
yond 1 Have we not a State beyond Cape Horn, belong¬ 
ing nevertheless to us as part of our commercial system 1 
And what does New York enjoy ? What do Massachu¬ 
setts and Maine enjoy ? They enjoy an exclusive right of 
carrying on the coasting trade from State to State, on the 
Atlantic, and around Cape Horn to the Pacific. And that 
is a highly important branch of business, and a source of 
wealth and emolument, of comfort and good living. Every 
man must know this, who is not blinded by passion or fanat¬ 
icism. It is this right to the coasting trade, to the exclusion 
of foreigners, thus granted to the Northern States, which 
they have ever held, and of which, up to this time, there has 
been no attempt to deprive them ; it is this which has em¬ 
ployed so much tonnage and so many men, and given sup¬ 
port to so many thousands of our fellow-citizens. Now 
what would you say, in this day of the prevalence of notions 
of free trade, — what would you say, if the South and the 
South-west were to join together to repeal this law ? And 
they have the votes to do it to-morrow. What would you 
say if they should join hands and resolve that these men of 
New York and New England, who put this slight on their 
interest, shall enjoy this exclusive privilege no longer 1 that 
they will throw it all open, and invite the Dane, the Swede, 
the Hamburgher, and all the commercial nations of Europe 
who can carry cheaper, to come in and carry goods from 
34 * 


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New York coastwise on the Atlantic, and to California, on 
the Pacific ? What would you say to that ? 

Gentlemen, we live under a Constitution. It has made 
us what we are. What has carried the American flag all 
over the world? What has constituted that “unit of com¬ 
merce,” that wherever the stars and stripes are seen, they 
signify that it belongs to America and united America ? 
What is it now that represents us so respectably all over 
Europe ? in London at this moment, and all over the world ? 
What is it but the result of those commercial regulations 
which united us all together, and made our commerce the 
same commerce; which made all the States, New York, 
Massachusetts, and South Carolina, in the aspect of our for¬ 
eign relations one and the same country, without division, 
distinction, or separation ? Now, Gentlemen, to effect this 
was the original design of the Constitution. We in our day 
must see to it; and it will be equally incumbent on you, my 
young friends of Albany, to see that, while you live, this 
spirit is made to pervade the whole administration of the 
government. The Constitution of the United States, to 
keep us united, to keep a fraternal feeling flowing in our 
hearts, must be administered in the spirit in which it was 
framed. 

And, Gentlemen, if I wished to convey to you an idea of 
what that spirit is, I would exhibit it to you in its living,, 
speaking, animated form ; I would refer now and always to 
the administration of the first President, George Washing¬ 
ton. If I were now to describe a patriot President, I would 
draw his masterstrokes and copy his design ; I would pre¬ 
sent his picture before me as a constant study ; I would dis¬ 
play his policy, alike liberal and just, narrowed down to no 
sectional interests, bound to no personal objects, held to no 
locality, but broad and generous and open, as expansive as 
the air which is wafted by the winds of heaven from one 
part of the country to another. 

1 would draw a picture of his foreign policy, just, steady, 
stately, but withal proud, and lofty, and glorious. No man 
apprehended, in his day, that the broad escutcheon of the 


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403 


Union could receive injury or damage, or even contumely 
or disrespect, with impunity. His own character gave char¬ 
acter to the foreign gelations of the country. He upheld 
every interest of the United States in even the proudest na¬ 
tions of Europe ; and while resolutely just, he was as reso¬ 
lutely determined that no plume in the honor of the country 
should ever be defaced or moved from its proper position 
by any power on earth. Washington was cautious and 
prudent; no self-seeker ; giving information to Congress, as 
directed by the Constitution, oh all questions, when neces¬ 
sary, with fairness and frankness, claiming nothing for him¬ 
self, exercising his own rights, and preserving the dignity 
of his station, but taking especial care to execute the laws 
as a paramount duty, and in such manner as to give satis¬ 
faction to all just and reasonable men. It was always re¬ 
marked of his administration, that he filled the courts of 
justice with the most spotless integrity, the highest talent, 
and the purest virtue ; and hence it became a common say¬ 
ing, running through all classes of society, that our great 
security is in the learning and integrity of the judicial tribu¬ 
nals. This high character they justly possessed, and con¬ 
tinue to possess in an eminent degree, from the impress 
which Washington stamped on these tribunals at their first 
organization. 

Gentlemen, a patriot President is the guardian, the pro¬ 
tector, the friend, of every citizen of the United States. 
He should be, and he is, no man’s persecutor, no man’s 
enemy, but the supporter and the protector of all and every 
citizen, so far as such support and protection depend on his 
faithful execution of the laws. But there is especially one 
great idea which Washington presents, and which governed 
him, and which should govern every man high in office who 
means to resemble Washington; and that is, the duty of 
preserving the government itself; of suffering, so far as de¬ 
pends on him, no one branch to interfere with another; no 
power to be assumed by any department which does not 
belong to it, and none to be abandoned which does belong 
to it, but to preserve it and carry it on unharmed for the 
benefit of the present and future generations. 


404 


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Gentlemen, a wise and prudent shipmaster makes it his 
* first duty to preserve the vessel which carries him, and his 
passengers, and all that is committed his charge; to keep 
her afloat, to conduct her to her destined port with entire 
security of property and life. That is his first object, and 
that should be, and is, the object of every chief magistrate 
of the United States, who has a proper appreciation of his 
duty. His first and highest duty is to preserve the Consti¬ 
tution w^ich bears him, which sustains the government, with¬ 
out which every thing goes to the bottom; to preserve that, 
and keep it, with the utmost of his ability and foresight, off 
the rocks and shoals, and away from the quicksands. To 
accomplish this great end, he exercises the caution of the 
experienced navigator. He suffers nothing to betray his 
watchfulness, or to draw him aside from the great interest 
committed to his care; but is always awake, always solicit¬ 
ous, always anxious, for the safety of the ship which ‘is to 
carry him through the stormy seas. 

“ Though pleased to see the dolphins play, 

He minds his compass and his way; 

And oft he throws the wary lead, 

To see what dangers may be hid: 

At helm he makes his reason sit; 

His crew of passions all submit. 

Thus, thus he steers his bark, and sails, 

On upright keel, to meet the gales ! ” 

Now, gentlemen, a patriot President, acting from the 
impulses of this high and honorable purpose, may reach 
what Washington reached. He may contribute to raise 
high the public prosperity, to help to fill up the measure of 
his country’s glory and renown. He may be able to find a 
rich reward in the thankfulness of the people, 

“ And read his history in a nation’s eyes.” 


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405 


DINNER AT ALBANY, N. Y. 

Speech delivered at a Dinner in Albany. 

Ix the-evening of the 28th of May, 1851, Mr. Webster was entertained 
at a dinner by a large company of the most distinguished citizens of Al¬ 
bany. lion. John C. Spencer presided at the table, and, after the cloth 
was removed, addressed the company in a most interesting and eloquent 
style, and concluded by saying, 

“ Gentlemen, I give you a sentiment which I think will be drunk in 
bumpers and standing. [The whole assembly rose at once with accla¬ 
mation.] 

“The Constitution of the United States and Daniel Webster: insep¬ 
arable now, and inseparable in the records of time and eternity.” 

Mr. Webster rose to respond, when the whole company greeted him 
with three times three cheers. Mr. Webster spoke as follows : — 

I know, Gentlemen, very well, how much of the unde¬ 
served compliment, or I may say eulogy, which you have 
heard from my honorable friend at the head of the table, is 
due to a personal and political friendship which has now 
continued for many years. Of course, I cannot but most 
profoundly thank him for the manner in which he has ex¬ 
pressed himself. Gentlemen, what shall I say ? What shall 
I say to this outpouring of kindness? I am overwhelmed. 
I have no words. I cannot acknowledge the truth of what 
has been said, yet 1 hardly could find it in my heart to deny 
it. It is overstated. It is overstated. But that I love the 
Constitution of the country; that I have a passion for it, 
the only political passion that ever entered into my breast; 
that I cherish it day and night; that I live on its healthful, 
saving influences, and that I trust never, never, never to 
cease to heed it till I go to the grave of my fathers, is as 
true [turning to Mr. Spencer] as that you sit here. I do 
not suppose I am born to any considerable destiny, but my 
destiny, whatever it may be, attaches me to the Constitution 
of the country. I desire not to outlive it. I desire to ren¬ 
der it some service. And, on the modest stone that shall 
mark my grave, whether within my native New Hampshire 
or my adopted Massachusetts, I wish no other epitaph than 
this: While he lived, he did what he could to support the 
Constitution of his country. I confess to you that as to 


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mere questions of politics, of expediency, I have taken my 
share in them, as they have gone along, in the course of 
my public life, which is now fast running through. But 
have felt no anxiety, no excitement; nothing has made me 
lie awake at night, when it is said honest men sleep, except 
what has concerned the preservation of the Union. 

The Constitution of the United States! What is there 
on the whole earth ; what is there that so fills the imagina¬ 
tions of men under heaven; what is there that the civilized, 
liberalized, liberty-loving people of the world can look at, 
and do look at, so much as that great and glorious instru¬ 
ment held up to their contemplation, blazing over this west¬ 
ern hemisphere, and darting its rays throughout the world, 
the Constitution of the United States of America ! In Mas¬ 
sachusetts, in* New York, in Washington, its ample folds 
are athwart the whole heavens. Are they not seen in all 
America, on all the continent of Europe, gazed at and hon¬ 
ored in Russia, in Turkey, in the Indian seas, in all die 
countries of the .Oriental world 1 What is it that makes 
you and me here to-day, so proud as we are of the name 
of America ? What is it ? It is almost a miracle ; the 
achievement of half a century, by wise men under propitious 
circumstances, acting from patriotic motives; a miracle 
achieved on earth and in view of all nations; the establish¬ 
ment of a government, taking hold on a great continent; 
covering ample space for fifty other governments ; having 
twenty-five millions of people, intelligent, prosperous, brave, 
able to defend themselves against united mankind, and to 
bid defiance to the whole of them ; a noble monument of 
republican honor and power, and of republican success, that 
throws a shade, and sometimes a deep and black shade, 
over the monarchies, and aristocracies, and despotisms of 
Europe. Who is there, who is there from the poles to the 
Mediterranean, despot, aristocrat, autocrat, who is there that 
now dares to speak reproachfully or in tones of derogation 
of the government of the United States of America ? There 
is not one. And if we may judge, my friends, of the success 
of our system of government from the regard it attracts 
from all nations, we may flatter ourselves that in our primi- 


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tive republicanism, in our representative system, in our de¬ 
parture from the whole feudal code and all the prerogatives 
of aristocratic and autocratic power, from all the show and 
pageantry of courts, we shall hold ourselves up like the face 
of the sun, not marred by inscription, but bright in glory, 
and glittering in the sight of all men. And so we will 
stand, so. shine; and when the time comes when I shall be 
gathered to my fathers,* and you to yours, that eternal, un¬ 
fading sun of American liberty and republicanism, as steady 
in its course as the sun in the heavens, shall still pour forth 
his beams for the enlightenment of mankind. 

Gentlemen, I again thank you for the manner in which 
you have been pleased to receive the complimentary senti¬ 
ment proposed by my friend. I thank you, thank him. 
Gentlemen, I am happy to be here, in this ancient city. 
Of course, I like to see my Yankee brethren here, and a 
great many of them, of the ancient stock. But I have no 
objection to see the recent importations, so to describe them, 
come from where they may; because I am of opinion, and 
have expressed it again and again, that we have got to that 
stage in our affairs, that the world has reached that point in 
the system of change and innovation, that we have nothing 
to do but say to the inhabitants of the ancient world, — the 
Irish, the Welsh, the German, — Gentlemen, come ! and the 
fact is, “the cry is still, They come!” There are people 
enough imported into New York, twice a year, to make a 
city as large as old Salem or Naumkeag in Massachusetts. 
Every ship brings them to our shores, and off they start for 
Wisconsin. Well, they come, and whether they come from 
Dublin, Cork, or Kerry, they are very happy to stay where 
they are. If they come from the North of Ireland, if they 
have a little of the caifny Scot in them, they still find them¬ 
selves at home. Every steamboat brings them, and every 
packet; and when you think they are all here, “ the cry is 
still, They come ! ” Well, we must meet this as well as we 
can. Very many of them are excellent persons, and be¬ 
come excellent citizens of the United States. I am a New 
England man. I am of the Anglo-Saxon race ; but it is 
ftiy good fortune to be connected in life with a lady who 


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lias a portion of the old Knickerbocker blood. I am happy 
to know that among this company there are many persons 
of Dutch descent. I honor them all, and I accord to them 
credit for honesty, for sobriety of character, and for the 
great aid they have lent to the growth and prosperity of 
this and neighboring States. 

Gentlemen, numerous and various as are the elements 
of our national life, they are hanYmnized into one great 
whole, — the Constitution and the Union. With my dying 
breath, if I have my senses, my last prayer shall be, Heaven 
save my country and the Constitution ! I hear the. cry of 
disunion, secession. The secession of individual States, to 
my mind, is the most absurd of all ideas. I should like to 
know how South Carolina is to get out of this Union. 
Where is she to go ? The commercial people of Charleston 
say, with truth and propriety, if South Carolina secedes 
from the Union, we secede from South Carolina. The thing 
is absurd. A separate secession is an absurdity. It could 
not take place. It must l^|d to war. I do, indeed, admit 
the possibility that a grear mass of the Southern States, 
if they should come so far north as to include Virginia, 
might make a Southern confederation. But it would put 
Virginia up to all she knows to accomplish it. More than 
half of Virginia lies on the west slope of the Alleghanies, 
and is connected with the valley of the Mississippi, its people 
and interests, more than with those who live on tide-water. 
Do they think that the great western slope of the Allegha¬ 
nies is to be included in a secession m<*Vement ? Never¬ 
theless, it is a most serious consideration. All know what 
would be the result of any dismemberment of this Union, 
large or small. The philosophic poet tells us, that in the 
frame of things above us, beneath us,* and around 11 s, there 
are connections, mutual dependences and relations, which 
link them together in one great chain of existences, begin¬ 
ning from the throne on high, and running down to the 
lowest order of beings. There seems to be some analogy 
between this great system of the universe and our associa¬ 
tion here as separate States; independent, yet connected; 
revolving in separate spheres, and yet mutually bound one 


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409 


with another. What the poet says of the great chain that 
holds all together in the moral, intellectual, and physical 
world, is applicable to the bond which unites the States : — 

“ Whatever link you strike, 

Tenth, or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike.” 

Now, Gentlemen, it is not for me to do much more, nor 
attempt much more, on this theatre of action. I look on to 
see what others shall do, and especially to see what the rising 
generation shall do. I look on to see what the young men 
of the country are determined to do. I see them intelligent, 
regardless of personal objects, holding on upon what their .an¬ 
cestors gave them, holding on with their whole strength to the 
institutions of the country. I know that, when I shall slum¬ 
ber in the dust, the institutions of the country will be free 
and safe ; I know that the young men of the country can 
preserve the country. In the language of the old Greek 
orator, “ The young are the spring time of the people.” I 
wish to leave my exhortation to the young men all over the 
country ; to say to them, On you, young men of the repub¬ 
lic, the hopes, the independence, the Union, the honor of 
the country, entirely depend. May God bless you ! In 
taking leave of you, whilst 1 shall never forget the pleasure 
this occasion has given me, I give you as a sentiment : — 

“ The young men of Albany, the young men of this gen¬ 
eration and of the succeeding generations: may they live 
for ever, but may the Constitution and the Union outlive 
them all.” 


THE ADDITION TO THE CAPITOL. 

Address delivered at the Laying of the Corner Stone of the Addition to the Capitol, on the 

4th of July, 1851. 

Fellow-Citizens, — I greet you well; I give you joy, on 
the return of this anniversary; and I felicitate you, also, on 
the more particular purpose of which this ever-memorable 
day has been chosen to witness the fulfilment. Hail! all 
hail ! I see before and around me a mass of faces, glowing 
with cheerfulness and patriotic pride. I see thousands of 
eyes turned towards other eyes, all sparkling with gratifica- 
35 



410 


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tion and delight. This is the New World ! This is Amer¬ 
ica ! This is Washington ! and this the Capitol of the 
United States! And where else, among the nations, can 
the seat of government be surrounded, on any day of any 
year, by those who have more reason to rejoice in the bless¬ 
ings which they possess 1 Nowhere, fellow-citizens ! assur¬ 
edly nowhere ! Let us, then, meet this rising sun with joy 
and thanksgiving! 

This is that day of the year which announced to mankind 
the great fact of American Independence. This fresh and 
brilliant morning blesses our vision with another beholding 
of the birthday of our nation; and we see that nation, of 
recent origin, now among the most considerable and power¬ 
ful, and spreading over the continent from sea to sea. 

Among the first colonists from Europe to this part of 
America, there were some, doubtless, who contemplated the 
distant consequences of their undertaking, and who saw a 
great futurity. But, in general, their hopes were limited to 
the enjoyment of a safe asylum from tyranny, religious and 
civil, and to respectable subsistence, by industry and toil. A 
thick veil hid our times from their view. But the progress 
of America, however slow, could not but at length awaken 
genius, and attract the attention of mankind. 

In the early part of the second century of our history, 
Bishop Berkeley, who, it will be remembered, had resided 
for some time in Newport, in Rhode Island, wrote his well- 
known “Verses on the Prospect of planting Arts and 
Learning in America.” The last stanza of this little 
poem seems to have been produced by a high poetical inspi¬ 
ration : — 

“ Westward the course of empire takes its way; 

The four first acts already past, 

A fifth shall close the drama with the day: 

Time’s noblest offspring is the last.” 

This extraordinary prophecy may be considered only as 
the result of long foresight and uncommon sagacity; of a 
foresight and sagacity stimulated, nevertheless, by excited 
feeling and high enthusiasm. So clear a vision of what 
America would become was not founded on square miles, or 


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411 


on existing numbers, or on any common laws of statistics. 
It was an intuitive glance into futurity; it was a grand con¬ 
ception, strong, ardent, glowing, embracing all time since 
the creation of the world, and all regions of which that 
world is composed, and judging of the future by just anal¬ 
ogy with the past. And the inimitable imagery and beauty 
with which the thought is expressed, joined to the concep¬ 
tion itself, render it one of the most striking passages in our 
language. 

On the day of the declaration of independence our illus¬ 
trious fathers performed the first scene in the last great act 
of this drama; one in real importance infinitely exceeding 
that for which the great English poet invokes 

“ A muse of fire, 

A kingdom for a stage, princes to act, 

And monarchs to behold the swelling scene ! ” 

The Muse inspiring our fathers was the Genius of Lib¬ 
erty, all on fire with a sense of oppression, and a resolution 
to throw it off; the whole world was the stage, and higher 
characters than princes trod it; and, instead of monarchs, 
countries and nations and the age beheld the swelling scene. 
How well the characters were cast, and how well each acted 
his part, and what emotions the whole performance excited, 
let history, now and hereafter, tell. 

At a subsequent period, but before the declaration of 
independence, the Bishop of St. Asaph published a dis¬ 
course, in which the following remarkable passages are 
found : — 

“ It is difficult for man to look into the destiny of future ages; the de¬ 
signs of Providence are vast and complicated, and our own powers are too 
narrow to admit of much satisfaction to our curiosity. But when we see 
many great and powerful causes constantly at work, we cannot doubt of 
their producing proportionable effects. 

“ The colonies in North America have not only taken root and ac¬ 
quired strength, but seem hastening with an accelerated progress to such a 
powerful state as may introduce a new and important change in human affairs. 

“ Descended from ancestors of the most improved and enlightened 
part of the Old World, they receive, as it were by inheritance, all the 
improvements and discoveries of their mother country. And it happens 
fortunately for them to commence their flourishing state at a time when 


412 


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the human understahding has attained to the free use of its powers, and 
has learned to act with vigor and certainty. They may avail themselves, 
not only of the experience and industry, but even of the errors and mis¬ 
takes, of former days. Let it be considered for how many ages a great 
part of the world appears not to have thought at all; how many more 
they have been busied in forming systems and conjectures, while reason 
has been lost in a labyrinth of words, and they never seem to have sus¬ 
pected on what frivolous matters their minds were employed. 

“ And let it be well understood what rapid improvements, what impor¬ 
tant discoveries, have been made, in a few years, by a few countries, with 
our own at their head, which have at last discovered the right method of 
using their faculties. 

“ May we not reasonably expect that a number of provinces possessed 
of these advantages and quickened by mutual emulation, with only the 
common progress of the human mind, should very considerably enlarge 
the boundaries of science? 

“ The vast continent itself, over which they are gradually spreading, 
may be considered as a treasure yet untouched of natural productions 
that shall hereafter afford ample matter for commerce and contempla¬ 
tion. And if we reflect what a stock of knowledge may be accumulated 
by the constant progress of industry and observation, fed with fresh sup¬ 
plies from the stores of ’nature, assisted sometimes by those happy 
strokes of chance which mock all the powers of invention, and some¬ 
times by those superior characters which arise occasionally to instruct 
and enlighten the world, it is difficult even to imagine to what height of 
improvement their discoveries may extend. 

“ And perhaps they may make as considerable advances in the arts of civil 
government and the conduct af life. We have reason to be proud, and 
even jealous, of our excellent constitution; but those equitable principles 
on which it was formed, an equal representation, (the best discovery £>f 
political wisdom,) and a just and commodious distribution of power 
which with us were the price of civil wars, and the rewards of the virtues 
and sufferings of our ancestors, descend to them as a natural inheritance, 
without toil or pain. 

“ But must they rest here , as in the utmost effort of human genius 9 Can 
chance and time , the wisdom and the experience of public men, suggest no 
new remedy against the evils which vices and ambition are perpetually apt 
to cause? May they not hope, without presumption, to preserve a 
greater zeal for piety and public devotion than we have done? For 
sure it can hardly happen to them, as it has to us, that when religion is 
best understood and rendered most pure and reasonable, then should be 
the precise time when many cease to believe and practise it, and all in 
general become most indifferent to it. 

“ May they not possibly be more successful than their mother country 


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413 


has been in preserving that reverence and authority which are due to the 
laws 1 to those who make, and to those who execute them ? May not a 
method be invented of procuring some tolerable share of the comforts of life 
to those inferior useful ranks of men to whose industry we are indebted for the 
whole ? Time and discipline may discover some means to correct the extreme 
inequalities of condition between the rich and the poor, so dangerous to the 
innocence and happiness of both. They may fortunately be led by habit 
and choice to despise that luxury which is considered with us the true 
enjoyment of wealth. They may have little relish for that ceaseless 
hurry of amusements which is pursued in this country without pleasure, 
exercise, or employment. And perhaps, after trying some of our follies 
and caprices, and rejecting the rest, they may be led by reason and ex* 
periment to that old simplicity which was first pointed out by nature, 
and has produced those models which we still admire in arts, eloquence, 
and manners. The diversity of new scenes and situations , which so many 
growing states must necessarily pass through, may introduce changes in the 
fluctuating opinions and manners of men which we can form no conception 
of; and not only the gracious disposition of Providence, but the visible 
preparation of causes, seems to indicate strong tendencies towards a 
general improvement.” 

Fellow-citizens, this “ gracious disposition of Providence,” 
and this “ visible preparation of causes,” at length brought 
on the hour for decisive action. On the 4th of July, 1776, 
the Representatives of the United States of America, in 
Congress assembled, declared that these United Colonies 
are, and of right ought to be, free and independent 
States. 

This declaration, made by most patriotic and resolute 
men, trusting in the justice of their cause and the protection 
of Heaven, and yet made not without deep solicitude and 
anxiety, has now stood fur seventy-five years, and still stands. 
It was sealed in blood. It has met dangers, and overcome 
them ; it has had enemies, and conquered them ; it has had 
detractors, and abashed them all; it has had doubting 
friends, but it has cleared all doubts away; and now, to-day, 
raising its august form higher than the clouds, twenty-five 
millions of people contemplate it with hallowed love, and the 
world beholds it, and the consequences which have followed 
from it, with profound admiration. 

This anniversary animates and gladdens and unites all 
American hearts. On other days of the year we may be 
35 * 


414 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


party men, indulging in controversies, more or less impor¬ 
tant to the public good ; we may have likes and dislikes, 
and we may maintain our political differences, often with 
warm, and sometimes with angry feelings. But to-day we 
are Americans all ; and all nothing but Americans. As the 
great luminary over our heads, dissipating mists and fogs, 
now cheers the whole hemisphere, so do the associations 
connected with this day disperse all cloudy and sullen 
weather in the minds and hearts of true Americans. Every 
man’s heart swells within him ; every man’s port and bear¬ 
ing become somewhat more proud and lofty, as he remem¬ 
bers that seventy-five years have rolled away, and that the 
great inheritance of liberty is still his; his, undiminished 
and unimpaired; his in all its original glory; his to enjoy, 
his to protect, and his to transmit to future generations. 

Fellow-citizens, this inheritance which we enjoy to-day is 
not only an inheritance of liberty, but of our own peculiar 
American liberty. Liberty has existed Hn other times, in 
other countries, and in other forms. There has been a Gre¬ 
cian liberty, bold and powerful, full of spirit, eloquence, and 
fire; a liberty which produced multitudes of great men, and 
has transmitted one immortal name, the name of Demos¬ 
thenes, to posterity. But still it was a liberty of discon¬ 
nected states, sometimes united, indeed, by temporary 
leagues and confederacies, hut often involved in wars be¬ 
tween themselves. The sword of Sparta turned its sharpest 
edge against Athens, enslaved her, and devastated Greece ; 
and, in her turn, Sparta was compelled to bend before the 
power of Thebes. v And let it ever be remembered, espe¬ 
cially let the truth sink deep into all American minds, that it 
was the want of union among her several states which 
finally gave the mastery of all Greece to Philip of Macedon. 

And there has also been a Roman liberty, a proud, ambi¬ 
tious, domineering spirit, professing free and popular princi¬ 
ples in Rome itself, but, even in the best days of the republic, 
ready to carry slavery and chains into her provinces, and 
through every country over which her eagles could be borne. 
What was the liberty of Spain, or Gaul, or Germany, or 
Britain, in the days of Rome 7 Did true constitutional lib- 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


415 


erty then exist 1 As the Roman empire declined, her prov¬ 
inces, not instructed in the principles of free popular gov¬ 
ernment, one after another declined also, and when Rome 
herself fell, in the end, all fell together. 

I have said, Gentlemen, that our inheritance is an inherit¬ 
ance of American liberty. That liberty is characteristic, 
peculiar, and altogether our own. Nothing like it existed 
in former times, nor was known in the most enlightened 
states of antiquity; while with us its principles have be¬ 
come interwoven into the minds of individual men, con¬ 
nected with our daily opinions, and our daily habits, until 
it is, if I may so say, an element of social as well as of 
political life; and the consequence is, that to whatever re¬ 
gion an American citizen carries himself, he takes with him, 
fully developed in his own understanding and experience, 
our American principles and opinions, and becomes ready 
at once, in cooperation with others, to apply them to the 
formation of new governments. Of this a most wonderful 
instance may be seen in the history of the State of Cali¬ 
fornia. 

Fellow-citizens, by the act of Congress of the 30th of 
September, 1850, provision was made for the extension of 
the Capitol, according to such plan as might be approved 
by the President of the United States, and for the necessary 
sums to be expended, under his direction, by such architect 
as he might appoint. This measure was imperatively de¬ 
manded, for the use of the legislative and judiciary depart¬ 
ments, the public libraries, the occasional accommodation of 
the chief executive magistrate, and for other objects. ]$o 
act of Congress incurring a large expenditure has received 
more general approbation from the people. The President 
has proceeded to execute this law. He has approved a 
plan ; he has appointed an architect; and all things are now 
ready for the commencement of the work. 

The anniversary of national independence appeared to 
afford an auspicious occasion for laying the foundation stone 
of the additional building. That ceremony has now been 
performed by the President himself, in the presence and 
view of this multitude. He has thought that the day and 


416 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


the occasion made a united and imperative call for some 
short address to the people here assembled ; and it is at his 
request that I have appeared before you to perform that part 
of the duty which was deemed incumbent on us. 

Beneath the stone is deposited, among other things, a list 
of which will be published, the following brief account of 
the proceedings of this day, in my handwriting: — 


ee (fn tfe mozmny 6fie ^cidt cfay tfe 

deventy=dixtf yeai tfe Jfnde^iendence tfe 
^ifnited fftated isfmeuca, in tfe city 

dfadfmytan, ferny tfe A-tf c/ciy ^ufy, '/ f 5 d, 
tfid dtane, dediynec/ad tfe coznez diene tfe ex=> 
te?idian a^ tfe foa^iUaf. accazdmy to- a ^ifan afi=* 
^izaved fy tfe 0^iedic/ent, m 'fiazd nance e^ an 


act a^ '(oanyzedd, wad faic/ fy 

MILLARD FILLMORE, 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 

addidtecf fy tfe fyzamd <yffadtez o-/' tfe ^yffadonic 
Jf/fdyed, in tfe ^izcdencc ojf many mem fetid af 
f/onyiedd, a^ c^icezd tfe (Executive and J/d* 
dicia/iy fffcfia itmentd, ffationaf, fftate, and 
Qhdtuct, a^ crf^/iceid tfe azmy and navy, tfe 
coijfiozate antfazitied tfid and netyffaziny citied, 
many addociatiand, civif amd mifitazy and madon- 
cc, memfeid tfe ffmitfdaman Jfndtitution and 
ffatwnaf Jfndtitute, ^izo^cddoid ca CCey ed a?id 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


417 


teaeAezd of deAooAd of tAe 23idfaict } znitAc tAceiz 
dtccdentd andfcafiiAd) and a vadt concouzde of^zeo= 
fcAe fam jfi/aced neaz and zeniote } wteAudiny a 
few duzvtviny yentAeznen zoAo zyitnedded tAce Aay= 
iny of tAe coznez 4 lane of tAe Aoa^zitoA Ay 0\edd 
dent ^ffAidAccnyton } on tAe A BtA day of AAefi,tem= 

/ez, 23 . S7<}3. 

u 3f } tAezefoae, it dAaAA Ae Aezeaftez tAe zoiAA 
of Afod tAat tAid dtcuetuze dAaAA faAA fzozn ito 
Aade, tAat itd foundation Ae ajfztuzned, a?zd tAid 
de^cooit AzouyAt to tAe eyed of men, Ae it tAen 
Aziozan, tAat on tAid day tAe d(oncon of tAe 
dAnited SAtated of toAmezcca dtando fzm, tAat 
tAecz Aoondtitutcon dtiAA exidto uniznfcaizedand 
zoitA aAA itd ouycnaA uoefnAnedd and yAozy; 
yzotoeny evezy day dtzonyez and dfaonyez in tAe 
affeetiond of tAeyzeat Aody of tAce *sAmeiccan ^eo= 
yc Ae, and attzaeteny rnoze and mote tAe admczatcen 
of tAe zoozAd. isAnd oc AA Aceze addemAAed ; zoAetAez 
AeAonycny to jfcuAAce Aife oz to yezevate Aife, zoitA 
Aeaztd dev-outAy tAanAfuA to zsAAzncyAty Afod foz 
tAe yczedezvatcon of tAe AiAezty and Aajtcjfunedd of tAe 
eounfay, unite on dcnceze azid f event ^czayezd tAat 
tAid de/iodit, and tAce waAAd and azcAced, tAe dozned 


418 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


and toa/eio, td^e codtmnd and entaddatazed, now to 
e ejected ove’i it, may ezidaze yo% eve't / 

tdie ddnited Stated o^ ^/dmeztca / 
“ SSanted SSeddte'e, 

u Seczetazy o^ ddtate o^ t/ze denoted Stated!’ 


“ dyed dave 


Fellow-citizens, fifty-eight years ago Washington stood on 
this spot to execute a duty like that which lias now been 
performed. He then laid the corner stone of the original 
Capitol. He was at the head of the government, at that* 
time weak in resources, burdened with debt, just struggling 
into political existence and respectability, and agitated by 
the heaving waves which were overturning European thrones. 
But even then, in many important respects, the government 
was strong. It was strong in Washington’s own great char¬ 
acter ; it was strong in the wisdom and patriotism of other 
eminent public men, his political associates and fellow-labor¬ 
ers ; and it was strong in the affections of. the people. 

The extension of territory embraced within the United 
States, increase of its population, commerce, and manufac¬ 
tures, development of its resources by canals and railroads, 
and rapidity of intercommunication by means of steam and 
electricity, have all been accomplished without overthrow of, 
or danger to, the public liberties, by any assumption of mili¬ 
tary power; and, indeed, without any permanent increase 
of the army, except for the purpose of frontier defence, and 
of affording a slight guard to the public property ; or of 
the navy, any further than to assure the navigator that, in 
whatsoever sea lie shall sail his ship, he is protected by the 
stars and stripes of his country. This, too, has been done 
without the shedding of a drop of blood for treason or re¬ 
bellion ; while systems of popular representation have regu¬ 
larly been supported in the State governments and in the 
general government; while laws, national and State, of such 
a character have been passed, and have been so wisely ad¬ 
ministered, that I may stand up here to-day, and declare, as 


t 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


419 


I now do declare, in the face of all the intelligent of the 
age, that, for the period which has elapsed from the day 
that Washington laid the foundation of this Capitol to the 
present time, there has been no country upon earth in which 
life, liberty, and property have been more amply and steadily 
secured, or more freely enjoyed, than in these United States 
of America. Who is there that will deny this? Who is 
there prepared with a greater or a better example ? Who 
is there that can stand upon the foundation of facts, acknowl¬ 
edged or proved, and assert that these our republican insti¬ 
tutions have not answered the true ends of government 
beyond all precedent in human history ? 

There is yet another view. There are still higher con¬ 
siderations. Man is an intellectual being, destined to im¬ 
mortality. There is a spirit in him, and the breath of the 
Almighty hath given him understanding. Then only is he 
tending toward his own destiny, while he seeks for knowl¬ 
edge and virtue, for the will of his Maker, and for just con¬ 
ceptions of his own duty. Of all important questions, 
therefore, let this, the most important of all, be first asked 
and first answered : In what country of the habitable globe, 
of great extent and large population, are the means of 
knowledge the most generally diffused and enjoyed among 
the people ? This question admits of one, and only one, 
answer. It is here ; it is here in these United States ; it is 
among the descendants of those who settled at Jamestown ; 
of those who were pilgrims on the shore of Plymouth ; and 
of those other races of men, who, in subsequent times, have 
become joined in this great American family. Let one fact, 
incapable of doubt or dispute, satisfy every mind on this 
point. The population of the United States is twenty-five 
millions. Now, take the map of the continent of Europe 
and spread it out before you. Take your scale and your 
dividers, and lay oft'in one area, in any shape you please, a 
triangle, square, circle, parallelogram, or trapezoid, and of 
an extent that shall contain one hundred and fifty millions 
of people, and there will be found within the United States 
more persons who do habitually read and write than can be 
embraced within the lines of your demarcation. 


429 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


But there is something even more than this. Man is not 
only an intellectual, but he is also a religious being, and his 
religious feelings and habits require cultivation. Let the 
religious element in man’s nature be neglected, let him be 
influenced by no higher motives than low self-interest, and 
subjected to no stronger restraint than the limits of civil 
authority, and he becomes the creature of selfish passion or 
blind fanaticism. 

The spectacle of a nation powerful and enlightened, but 
without Christian faith, has been presented, almost within 
our own day, as a warning beacon for the nations. 

On the other hand, the cultivation of the religious senti¬ 
ment represses licentiousness, incites to general benevolence 
and the practical acknowledgment of the brotherhood of 
man, inspires respect for law and order, and gives strength 
to the whole social fabric, at the same time that it conducts 
the human soul upward to the Author of its being. 

Now, I think it may be stated with truth, that in no coun¬ 
try, in proportion to its population, are there so many be¬ 
nevolent establishments connected with religious instruction, 
Bible, Missionary, and Tract Societies, supported by public 
and private contributions, as in our own. There are also 
institutions for the education of the blind, of idiots, of the 
deaf and dumb ; for the reception of orphan and destitute 
children, and the insane ; for moral reform, designed for 
children and females respectively; and institutions for the 
reformation of criminals; not to speak of those numer¬ 
ous establishments, in almost every county and town in the 
United States, for the reception of the x aged, infirm, and 
destitute poor, many of whom have fled to our shores to 
escape the poverty and wretchedness of their condition at 
home. 

In the United States there is no church establishment or 
ecclesiastical authority founded by government. Public 
worship is maintained either by voluntary associations and 
contributions, or by trusts and donations of a charitable 
origin. 

Now, I think it safe to say, that a greater portion of the 
people of the United States attend public worship, decently 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


421 


clad, well behaved, and well seated, than of any other coun¬ 
try of the civilized world. Edifices of religion are seen 
every where. Their aggregate cost would amount to an 
immense sum of money. They are, in general, kept in 
good repair, and consecrated to the purposes of public wor¬ 
ship. In these edifices the people regularly assemble on 
the Sabbath day, which, by all classes, is sacredly set apart 
for rest from secular employment and for religious medita¬ 
tion and worship, to listen to the reading of the Holy Scrip¬ 
tures, and discourses from pious ministers of the several 
denominations. 

This attention to the wants of the intellect and of the 
soul, as manifested by the voluntary support of schools and 
colleges, of churches and benevolent institutions, is one of 
the most remarkable characteristics of the American people, 
not less strikingly exhibited in the new than in the older 
settlements of the country. On the spot where the first 
trees of the forest were felled, near the log cabins of the 
pioneers, are to be seen rising together the church and the 
school house. So has it been from the beginning, and God 
grant that it may thus continue ! 

“ On other shores, above their mouldering towns, 

In sullen pomp, the tall cathedral frowns ; 

Simple and frail, our lowly temp'les throw 
Their slender shadows on the paths below; 

Scarce steal the winds, that sweep the woodland tracks, 

The larches perfume from the settler’s axe, 

Ere, like a vision of the morning air, 

His slight-framed steeple marks the house of prayer. 

Yet faith’s pure hymn, beneath its shelter rude, 

Breathes out as sweetly to the tangled wood, 

As where the rays through blazing oriels pour 
On marble shaft and tessellated floor.” 

Who does not admit that this unparalleled growth in 
prosperity and renown is the result, under Providence, of 
the union of these States under a general Constitution, 
which guaranties to each State a republican form of govern¬ 
ment, and to every man the enjoyment of life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness, free from civil tyranny or ecclesi¬ 
astical domination ? 


36 


422 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


And, to bring home this idea to the present occasion, 
who does not feel that, when President Washington laid his 
hand on the foundation of the first Capitol, he performed a 
great work of perpetuation of the'Union and the Constitu¬ 
tion 1 Who does not feel that this seat of the general gov¬ 
ernment, healthful in its situation, central in its position, 
near the mountains whence gush springs of wonderful virtue, 
teeming with Nature’s richest products, and vet not far from 
the bays and the great estuaries of the sea, easily accessible 
and generally agreeable in climate and association, does 
give strength to the union of these States ? that this city, 
bearing an immortal name, with its broad streets and ave¬ 
nues, its public squares and magnificent edifices of the gen¬ 
eral government, erected for the purpose of‘carrying on 
within them the important business of the several depart¬ 
ments, for the reception of wonderful and curious inven¬ 
tions, for the preservation of the records of American learn¬ 
ing and genius, of extensive collections of the products of 
nature and art, brought hither for study and comparison 
from all parts of the world; adorned with numerous 
churches, and sprinkled over, 1 am happy to say, with many 
public schools, where all the children of the city, without 
distinction, have the means of obtaining a good education ; 
and with academies and colleges, professional schools and 
public libraries, should continue to receive, as it has hereto¬ 
fore received, the fostering care of Congress, and should be 
regarded as the permanent seat of the national government 1 
Here, too, a citizen of the great republic of letters,* a re¬ 
public which knows not the metes and bounds of political" 
geography, has prophetically indicated his conviction that 
America is to exercise a wide and powerful influence in the 
intellectual world, by founding in this city, as a commanding 
position in the field of science and literature, and placing 
under the guardianship of the government, an institution 
“for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” 

With each succeeding year new interest is added to the 
spot ; it becomes connected with all the historical associa- 

* Hugh Smithson, whose munificent bequest has been applied to the 
foundation of “ The Smithsonian Institution.” 


SELECTIONS EllOM WEBSTER, 


423 


tions of our country, with her statesmen and her orators, 
and, alas ! its cemetery is annually enriched by the ashes 
of her chosen sons. 

Before us is the broad and beautiful river, separating two 
of the original thirteen States, which a late President, a 
man of determined purpose and inflexible will, but patriotic 
heart, desired to span with arches of ever-enduring granite, 
symbolical of the firmly-cemented union of the North and 
the South. That President was General Jackson. 

On its banks repose the ashes of the Father of his Coun¬ 
try, and at our side, by a singular felicity of position, over¬ 
looking the city which he designed, and which bears his 
name, rises to his memory the marble column, sublime in its 
simple grandeur, and fitly intended to reach a loftier height 
than any similar structure on the surface of the whole earth. 

Let the votive offerings of his grateful countrymen be 
freely contributed to carry this monument higher and still 
higher. May I say, as on another occasion, “ Let it rise ; 
let it rise till it meet the sun in his coming ; let the earliest 
light of the morning gild it, and parting day linger and play 
on its summit ! ” 

Fellow-citizens, what contemplations are awakened in our 
minds as we assemble here to reenact a scene like that per¬ 
formed by Washington ! Methinks I see his venerable 
form now before me, as presented in the glorious statue by 
Houdon, now in the Capitol of Virginia. He*is dignified 
and grave ; but concern and anxiety seem to soften the 
lineaments of his countenance. The government over which 
he presides is yet in the crisis of experiment. Not free 
from troubles at home, he sees the world in commotion and 
in arms all around him. He sees that imposing foreign 
powers are half disposed to try the strength of the recently 
established American government.. We perceive that mighty 
thoughts, mingled with fears as well as with hopes, are strug¬ 
gling within him. He heads a short procession over these 
then naked fields ; he crosses yonder stream on a fallen tree; 
he ascends to the top of this eminence, whose original oaks 
of the forest stand as thick around him as if the spot had 
been devoted to Druidical worship, and here he performs the 
appointed duty of the day. 


424 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


And now, fellow-citizens, if this vision were a reality; if 
Washington actually were now amongst us, and if he could 
draw around him the shades of the great public men of his 
own day, patriots and warriors, orators and statesmen, and 
were to address us in their presence, would he not say to 
us: “Ye men of this generation, I rejoice and thank God 
for being able to see that our labors and toils and sacrifices 
were not in vain. You are prosperous, you are happy, you 
are grateful; the fire of liberty burns brightly and steadily 
in your hearts, while duty and the law restrain it from 
bursting forth in wild and destructive conflagration. Cher¬ 
ish liberty, as you love it; cherish its securities, as you 
wish to preserve it. Maintain the Constitution which we 
labored .so painfully to establish, and which has been to you 
such a source of inestimable blessings. Preserve the union 
of the States, cemented as it was by our prayers, our tears, 
and our blood. Be true to God, to your country, and to 
your duty. So shall the whole Eastern world follow the 
morning sun to contemplate you as a nation ; so shall 
all generations honor you, as they honor us ; and so shall 
that Almighty Power which so graciously protected us, and 
which now protects you, shower its everlasting blessings 
upon you and your posterity.” 

Great Father of your Country ! we heed your words; we 
feel their force as if you now uttered them with lips of flesh 
and blood. ^Your example teaches us, your affectionate ad¬ 
dresses teach us, your public life teaches us, your sense of 
the value of the blessings of the Union. Those blessings our 
fathers have tasted, and we have tasted, and still taste. Nor 
do we intend that those who come after us shall be denied 
the same high fruition. Our honor as well as our happiness 
is concerned. We cannot, we dare not, we will not, betray 
our sacred trust. We will not filch from posterity the treas¬ 
ure placed in our hands to be transmitted to other genera¬ 
tions. The bow that gilds the clouds in the heavens, the 
pillars that uphold the firmament, may disappear and fall 
away in the hour appointed by the will of God; but until 
that day comes, or so long as our lives may last, no ruthless 
hand shall undermine that bright arch of Union and Liberty 
which spans the Continent from Washington to California. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


425 


Fellow-citizens, we must sometimes be tolerant to folly, 
and patient at the sight of the extreme waywardness of men ; 
but I confess that, when 1 reflect on the renown of our past 
history, on our present prosperity and greatness, and on what 
the future hath yet to unfold, and when I see that there are 
men who can find in all this nothing good, nothing valua¬ 
ble, nothing truly glorious, I feel that all their reason has 
fled away from them, and left the entire control over their 
judgment and their actions to insanity and fanaticism ; and 
more than all, fellow-citizens, if the purposes of fanatics and 
disunionists should be accomplished, the patriotic and intelli¬ 
gent of our generation would seek to hide themselves from the 
scorn of the world, and go about to find dishonorable graves. 

Fellow-citizens, take courage; be of good cheer. We shall 
come to no such ignoble end. We shall live, and not die. 
Du ring the period allotted to our several lives, we shall con¬ 
tinue to rejoice in the return of this anniversary. The ill- 
omened sounds of fanaticism will be hushed ; the ghastly 
spectres of Secession and Disunion will disappear, and the 
enemies of united constitutional liberty, if their hatred can¬ 
not be appeased, may prepare to have their eyeballs seared 
as they behold the steady flight of the American eagle, on 
his burnished wings, for years and years to come. 

President Fillmore, it is your singularly good fortune to 
perform an act such as that which the earliest of your pred¬ 
ecessors performed fifty-eight years ago. You stand where 
he stood ; you lay your hand on the corner stone of a build¬ 
ing designed greatly to extend that whose corner stone he 
laid. Changed, changed is every thing around. The same 
sun, indeed, shone upon his head which now shines upon 
yours. The same broad river rolled at his feet, and bathes 
his last resting-place, that now rolls at yours. But the site 
of this city was then mainly an open field. Streets and ave¬ 
nues have since been laid out and completed, squares and 
public grounds enclosed and ornamented, until the city which 
bears his name, although comparatively inconsiderable in 
numbers and wealth, has become quite fit to be the seat of 
government of a great and united people. 

Sir, may the consequences of the duty which you per- 


426 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


form so auspiciously to-day equal those which flowed from 
his act. Nor this only ; may the principles of your admin¬ 
istration, and the wisdom of your political conduct, be such, 
as that the world of the present day, and all history here¬ 
after, may be at no loss to perceive what example you have 
made your study.' 

And now, fellow-citizens, with hearts void of hatred, envy, 
and malice towards our own countrymen, or any of them, 
or towards the subjects or citizens of other governments, or 
towards any member of the great family of man ; but ex¬ 
ulting, nevertheless, in our own peace, security, and happi¬ 
ness, in the grateful remembrance of the past, and the 
glorious hopes of the future, let us return to our homes, and 
with all humility and devotion offer our thanks to the Father 
of all our mercies, political, social, and religious. 


TO MESSRS. JOHN HAVEN AND OTHERS, OF PORTSMOUTH, 
NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Washington , January 3, 1844. 

Gentlemen, —I have received your letter requesting 
permission to present my name to the people as a candidate 
for the office of President of the United States, subject to 
the future wise, deliberate action of the Whig National Con¬ 
vention of 1844. 

It would be disingenuous to withhold an expression of the 
grateful feelings awakened by a letter, containing such a 
request, so very numerously.signed, and coming from among 
those who have known me through life. No one can be 
insensible to the distinction of being regarded by any re¬ 
spectable number of his fellow-citizens as among those from 
whom a choice of President might be made with honor and 
safety to the country. The office of President is an office, 
the, importance of which cannot be too highly estimated. 
He who fills it necessarily exercises a great influence, not 
only on all the domestic interests of the country, on its for¬ 
eign relations, and the support of its honor and character 
among the nations of the earth, but on that which is of the 



SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


427 


very highest import to the happiness of the people, the main¬ 
tenance of the Constitution itself, and the prosperous con¬ 
tinuance of the government under it. 

Our systems are peculiar; and while capable, as experi¬ 
ence has shown, of producing the most favorable results, 
under a wise and cautious administration, they are, never¬ 
theless, exposed to peculiar dangers. 

We 4mve six and twenty States, ea<fli possessing within 
itself powers of government, limited only by the Constitu¬ 
tion of the United States; and we have a general govern¬ 
ment, to which are confided high trusts, to be exercised for 
the benefit of the people of all the States. It is obvious 
that this division of powers, itself the result of a novel and 
most delicate political operation, can be preserved only by 
the exercise of wisdom and pure patriotism. The Consti¬ 
tution of the United States stands on the basis of the peo¬ 
ple’s choice. It must remain on that basis so long as it 
remains at all. The veneration and love which are enter¬ 
tained for it will be increased by every instance of wise, 
prudent, impartial, and parental administration. 

On the other hand, they will be diminished by every 
administration which shall cherish local divisions, devote 
itself to local interests, seek to bend the influence of the 
government to personal or partisan purposes, or which 
shall forget that all patriotism is false and spurious which 
does not look with equal eye to the interests of the whole 
country, and all its parts, present and to come. I hardly 
know what an American statesman should so much deprecate, 
on his own account, as well as on account of his country, as 
that the Constitution of the United States, now the glory of 
our country and the admiration of the world, should become 
weakened in its foundations, perverted in its principles, or 
fallen and sunk in a nation’s regard and a nation’s hopes, by 
his own follies, errors, or mistakes. The Constitution was 
made for the good of the country; this the people know. 
Its faithful administration promotes that good; this the 
people, know. The people will themselves defend it against 
all foreign powers, and all open force, and they will right¬ 
fully hold to a'just and solemn account those to whom they 


428 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


may commit it, and in whose hands it shall be found to be 
shorn of a single beam of its honor, or deprived of a par¬ 
ticle of its capacity for usefulness. It was made for an 
honest people, and they expect it to be honestly administered. 
At the present moment, it is an object of general respect, 
confidence, and affection. Questions have arisen, however, 
and are likely to arise again, upon the extent of its powers, 
or upon the line which separates the functions of the*general 
government from those of the State governments ; and 'these 
questions will require, whenever they may occur, not only 
firmness, but much discretion, prudence, and impartiality, at 
the hand of the national executive. Extreme counsels or ex¬ 
treme opinions on either side would be very likely, if followed 
or adopted, to break up the well-adjusted balance of the 
whole. And he who has the greatest confidence in his own 
judgment, or the strongest reliance on his own good fortune, 
may yet be well diffident of his ability to discharge the duties 
of his trust in such a manner as shall prevent the public 
prosperity, or advance his own reputation. 

But, Gentlemen, while the office of President is quite too 
high to be sought by personal solicitation, or for private ends 
and objects, it is not to be declined, if proffered by the vol¬ 
untary desire of a free people. 

It is now more than thirty years since you and your fel¬ 
low-citizens of New Hampshire assigned me a part in po¬ 
litical affairs. My public conduct since that period is known. 
My opinions on the great questions now most interesting to 
th.e country are well known. The constitutional principles 
which I have endeavored to maintain are also known. If 
these p'rinciples and these opinions, now not likely to be 
materially changed, should recommend me to further marks 
of public regard and confidence, 1 should not withhold my¬ 
self from compliance with the general will. 

Put I have no pretensions of my own to bring forward, 
and trust that no friends of mine would, at any time, use 
my name for the purpose of preventing harmony among 
those whose general political opinions concur, or for 
any cause whatever but a conscientious regard to the good 
of the country.* It is obvious, Gentlemen, that, at the pres- 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


429 


ent moment, the tendency of opinion among those to be 
represented in the convention is generally and strongly set 
in another direction. 1 think it my duty, therefore, under 
existing circumstances, to request those who may feel a 
preference for me not to indulge in that preference, nor 
oppose any obstacle to the leading wishes of political friends, 
or to united and cordial efforts for the accomplishment of 
those wishes. 

The election of the next autumn must involve, in general, 
the same principles, and the same questions, that belonged 
to that of 1840. The cause I conceive to be the true cause 
of the country, its permanent prosperity, and all its great in¬ 
terests; the cause of its peace and honor; the cause of good 
government, true liberty, and the preservation and integrity 
of the Constitution ; and none should despair of its success. 

I am, Gentlemen, with sentiments of sincere regard, your 
obliged and obedient servant, 

Daniel Webster. 


TO MESSRS. WILLTAM KINNEY AND OTHERS, OF STAUNTON, 

VIRGINIA. 

Washington, November 23,1850. 

Gentlemen, — On my arrival in this city last evening, I 
had the pleasure of receiving your communication of the 
?th instant. It is a refreshing an encouraging, and a pa¬ 
triotic letter. You speak the sentiments which become the 
people of the great and ancient Commonwealth of Virginia. 
You speak as Wythe and Pendleton, Jefferson, 'Marshall, 
and Madison would speak were they yet among us. You 
speak of the union of these States; and what idea can sug¬ 
gest more lively emotion in the minds of the American peo¬ 
ple, of present prosperity, past renown, and future hopes 1 
Gladly would I be with you, Gentlemen, on the proposed 
occasion, and, as one of your countrymen and fellow-citi¬ 
zens, assure you of my hearty sympathy with you in the 
opinions which you express, and my unchangeable purpose 
to cooperate with you and other good men in upholding the 
honor of the States and the Constitution of the government. 
How happy should I be to present myself in Virginia, west 



430 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


of the Blue Ridge, and there to pledge mutual faith with 
the men of Augusta and Rockbridge, Bath, Alleghany, and 
Pocahontas, Highland, Pendleton, and Rockingham, that, 
while we live, the institutions of our wise and patriotic sires 
shall not want supporters, and that, so far as may depend 
on us, the civilized world shall never be shocked by behold¬ 
ing such a prodigy as the voluntary dismemberment of this 
glorious republic. No, Gentlemen, never, never ! If it 
shall come to that, political martyrdom is preferable to such 
a sight. It is better to die while the h<|fior of the country 
is untarnished, and the flag of the Union still flying over our 
heads, than to live to behold that honor gone for ever, and 
that flag prostrate in the dust. Gentlemen, I speak warmly, 
because 1 feel warmly, and because I know that I speak to 
men whose hearts are as warm as my own, in support of 
the country and the Union. 

I am lately from the North, where I have mixed exten¬ 
sively with men of all classes and all parties, and I assure 
you, Gentlemen, through the masses of the Northern people 
the general feeling and the great cry is for the Union, and 
for its preservation. There are, it is true, men to be found, 
some of perverse purposes, and some of bewildered imagi¬ 
nations, who affect to suppose that some possible, but unde¬ 
fined good would arise from a dissolution of the ties which 
bind these United States together. But be assured the num¬ 
ber of these men is small ; the eminent leaders of all par¬ 
ties rebuke them, and while there prevails a general purpose 
to maintain the Union as it is, that purpose embraces, as its 
just and necessary means, a firm resolution of supporting 
the rights of all the States precisely as they stand guarantied 
and secured by the Constitution. And you may depend 
upon it, that every provision in that instrument in favor of 
the rights of Virginia, and the other Southern States, and 
every constitutional act of Congress passed to uphold and 
enforce those rights, will be upheld and maintained, not only 
by the power of the law, but also by the prevailing influence 
of public opinion. 

Accidents may occur to defeat the execution of a law in 
a particular instance ; misguided men may, it is possible, 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


431 

sometimes enable others to elude the claims of justice and 
the rights founded in solemn constitutional compact; but on 
the whole, and in the end, the law will be executed and 
obeyed. The South will see that there is principle and pa¬ 
triotism, good sense and honesty, in the general mind of the 
North, and that, among the great mass of intelligent citizens 
in that quarter, the prevailing disposition to ask for justice 
is not stronger than the disposition to grant it to others. * 
Gentlemen, we are brethren ; we are descendants of those 
who labored together with intense anxiety for the establish¬ 
ment of the present Federal Constitution. Let me ask you 
to teach your young men, into whose hands the power of 
the country must soon fall, to go back to the close of the 
Revolutionary war; to contemplate the feebleness and in¬ 
competency of the confederation of States then existing; 
and to trace the steps by which the intelligence and patriot¬ 
ism of the great men of that day led the country to the 
adoption of the existing Constitution. Teach them to study 
the proceedings, votes, and reports of committees in the 
old Congress. Especially draw their attention to the lead¬ 
ing part taken by the Assembly of Virginia from 1783 on¬ 
ward. Direct tbeir minds to the convention at Annapolis in 
1786; and by the contemplation and study of these events 
and these efforts, let them see what a mighty thing it was to 
establish the government under which we have now lived so 
prosperously and so gloriously for sixty years. But, pardon 
me; I must not write an essay or make a speech. Vir¬ 
ginia ! true-hearted Virginia ! stand by your country, stand 
by the work of your fathers, stand by the union of the 
States, and may Almighty God prosper all our efforts in the 
cause of liberty, and in the cause of that united govern¬ 
ment which renders this people the happiest people on whom 
the sun ever shone ! 

I am, Gentlemen, yours truly and faithfully, 

Daniel Webster. 


432 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


TO THE NEW YORK COMMITTEE FOR THE CELEBRATION OF 
THE BIRTH DAY OF WASHINGTON. 

Washington, February 20, 1851. 

Gentlemen, — It is a source of deep regret to me, that 
my public duties absolutely prohibit me from having the 
pleasure of accepting your invitation, in behalf of the Union 
Safety Committee, to attend a public dinner on the twenty- 
second, in honor of that auspicious day. Auspicious in¬ 
deed ! All good influences, all omens of independence, 
liberty, free government, the creation of a nation, its pros¬ 
perity, happiness, and glory, hung over the hour when the 
eyes of Washington first opened to the light. 

You say truly, Gentlemen, that the present moment ad¬ 
monishes us to rally in support of his principles, to express 
anew our admiration of his character, and our gratitude for 
his parting lessons of patriotism and wisdom. 

You say truly, Gentlemen, that the great duty devolving 
on us is that of regarding the Union as the foundation of 
our peace and happiness, and the Constitution as the cement 
of that Union. So Washington regarded them ; so he con¬ 
jured his fellow-citizens, in all generations, to regard them ; 
and whenever his Farewell Address to his country shall be 
forgotten, and its admonitions rejected by the people of 
America, from that time it will become a farewell address to 
all the bright hopes of human liberty on earth. 

Gentlemen, the character of Washington is among the 
most cherished contemplations of my life. It is a fixed 
star in the firmament of great names, shining, without twin¬ 
kling or obscuration, with clear, steady, beneficent light. It 
is associated and blended with all our reflections on those 
things which are near and dear to us. If we think of the 
independence of our country, we think of him whose efforts 
were so prominent in achieving it; if we think of the Con¬ 
stitution which is over us, we think of him who did so much 
to establish it, and whose administration of its powers is 
acknowledged to be a model for his successors. If we think 
of glory in the field, of wisdom in the cabinet, of the 
purest patriotism, of the highest integrity, public and pri- 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


433 


vate, of morals without a stain, of religious feelings without 
intolerance and without extravagance, the august figure of 
Washington presents itself as the personation of all these 
ideas. 

You do well, Gentlemen, at this interesting hour, to in¬ 
voke his example, to spread over all the land a knowledge 
of his principles among the rising generation, and fervently 
to pray Heaven that the spirit which was in him may also 
be in us. 

When Washington, in behalf of the convention, presented 
to the old Congress and to the country that Constitution 
which was the production of their patriotic and assiduous 
labors, he made this most important declaration : “ In all 
our deliberations upon this subject, we kept steadily in our 
view, that which appears to us the greatest interest of every 
true American, the consolidation of our Union, in which is 
involved our prosperity, felicity, safety, perhaps our nation¬ 
al existence. This important consideration, seriously and 
deeply impressed on our minds, led each State in the con¬ 
vention to be less rigid on points of inferior magnitude than 
might have been otherwise expected ; and thus the Constitu¬ 
tion which we now present is the result of a spirit of amity, 
and of that mutual deference and concession which the pe¬ 
culiarity of our political situation rendered indispensable.” 

And when his public career was drawing to a close, he 
left to his country, as his last, best gift, his most earnest and 
affectionate exhortation, to uphold that Union as the main 
pillar of independence, and to frown indignantly upon the 
first dawning of any attempt to dissolve it. 

The advice is heeded now, and will be heeded hereafter. 
But, nevertheless, there are some among us on whom it is 
no injustice that those frowns of indignation should fall. 
There are those who are altogether for abandoning the 
Union, and alienating one portion of the country from the 
rest. They avow their wishes, they disclose their purposes. 
They open their hearts, and in those hearts there is found 
no pulsation for that Union which makes all Americans one 
people. All is but the ebbing and the flowing of the dark, 
37 


434 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


unwholesome, troubled current of secession, schism, and 
separation. 

We have seen propositions for secession formally brought 
forward, and solemnly discussed in the legislatures and con¬ 
ventions of several of the States. Other conventions are 
soon to be holden, under regular legislative provisions, to 
consider the same subject. In one important State, recent 
elections show that there prevails among the people almost 
an entire unanimity of sentiment in favor of breaking up 
the Union ; and this dissolution of the Union, it is supposed, 
may not take place without conflict in arms. Munitions of 
war are therefore provided, schools of instruction in military 
tactics established, and an armed air and attitude assumed. 
These apprehensions of conflict, in case secession be at¬ 
tempted, are not only welj. founded, but, in my judgment, 
certain to be realized. Secession cannot be accomplished 
but by war. I do not believe those who favor it expect any 
other result. Their hope is, that their cause and its objects 
may spread; and that other States, by local sympathies, or 
a supposed common interest, may be led to espouse it; so 
that the whole country may come to be divided into two 
great local parties, and as such to contend for the mastery. 

But, Providence has not forsaken us. This object, I be¬ 
lieve, has been defeated by the measures of adjustment 
adopted by Congress at the last session, and by the spirit, 
ability, and success with which the friends of the Union 
have resisted it in the South. Nor have the efforts of your 
association, Gentlemen, been either unimportant or unavailing. 
Your voices have been heard throughout the whole land, and 
no man can doubt how the great commercial metropolis of 
the country feels and acts, or hereafter will feel and act, on 
questions involving public interests of such indescribable 
magnitude. 

We have recently been informed, Gentlemen, of an open 
act of resistance to law, in the city of Boston; and if the 
accounts be correct of the circumstances of this occurrence, 
it is, strictly speaking, a case of treason. If men combine 
and confederate together, and by force of arms or force of 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


436 


numbers effectually resist the operation of an act of Con¬ 
gress, in its application to a particular individual, with the 
avowed purpose of making the same resistance to the same 
act in its application to all other individuals, this is levying 
war against the United States, and is nothing less than trea¬ 
son. Now, I understand that the persons concerned in this 
outrage in Boston avow openly their full purpose of pre¬ 
venting, by arms, or by the power of the multitude, the exe¬ 
cution of process for the arrest of an alleged fugitive slave 
in any and all cases whatever. I am sure, Gentlemen, that 
shame will burn the cheeks, and indignation fill the hearts, 
of nineteen twentieths of the people of Boston, at the 
avowal of principles and the commission of outrages so 
abominable. Depend upon it, that, if the people of that 
city had been informed of any such purpose or design as 
was carried into effect in the court house in Boston, on Sat¬ 
urday last, they would have rushed to the spot, and crushed 
such a nefarious project into the dust. The vast majority 
of the people of Boston must necessarily suffer in their feel¬ 
ings, but ought: not to suffer at all in their character or repu¬ 
tation for loyalty to the Constitution, from the acts of such 
persons as composed the mob. I venture to say, that when 
you hear of them next, you will learn that, personally and 
collectively, as individuals, and also as represented in the 
city councils, they will give full evidence of their fixed pur¬ 
pose to wipe away, and obliterate to the full extent of their 
power, this foul blot on the good name of their city. 

And now, Gentlemen, when projects of dissolution have 
taken so much of form and pressure in public bodies in the 
South, when lawless violence, trampling on the public au¬ 
thorities, stalks forth so boldly in the North, you will see 
that your work, highly prosperous thus far, is nevertheless 
not yet concluded. It is wise and patriotic, therefore, that 
you commemorate your love of country, strengthen your 
resolution to maintain the Constitution, the Union, and the 
laws, by uniting to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of 
the great Father of his Country. You do well to call to 
memory his services, to revive in your own bosoms his love 


436 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


of liberty and order, and to draw in patriotic inspirations 
from his principles and his example. For these principles 
and this example, there will be found respect and admiration 
every where, where there is a true love for the institutions 
of the country. And every American may well doubt the 
patriotism of his own heart, when he finds that in that heart 
veneration for Washington begins to be languishing and 
dying away. 

Gentlemen, the path of duty before you, and before me, 
is plain and broad ; it is to do our duty, and our whole duty, 
thoroughly and fearlessly ; it is to embrace the free institu¬ 
tions of our country, and to hold them up, with all our 
might, as if it were our last struggle upon earth. And 
then, if the blood of civil war shall flow, it will not stain 
our garments. If disgraceful outrages, gaining strength by 
indulgence and temporary success, shall proceed from stage 
to stage, till they destroy the lives of men, women, and chil¬ 
dren, pull down and demolish the temples of justice, and 
even wrap cities in flames, you and I, and our character and 
memory, both now and with posterity, will at least escape 
the consuming conflagration of reproach. 

I am, Gentlemen, your much obliged servant, 

Daniel Webster. 


DECLARATION 


O F 

INDEPENDENCE. 


PROCEEDINGS IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED COLONIES RE¬ 
SPECTING “A DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, BY THE REPRE¬ 
SENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN CONGRESS 
ASSEMBLED.” „ 

IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED COLONIES. 

Tuesday , June 11, 1776. 

Resolved , That the committee, for preparing the Declara¬ 
tion, consist of five: — the members chosen, Mr. Jefferson, 
Mr. John Adams, Mr. Franklin, Mr. Sherman, and Mr. R. 
R. Livingston. 

Monday , July 1,1776. 

The order of the day being read, 

Resolved , That this Congress will resolve itself into a 
committee of the whole, to take into consideration the reso¬ 
lution respecting independency. 

That the declaration be referred to said committee. 

The Congress resolved itself into a committee of the 
whole. After some time the President resumed the chair, 
and Mr. Harrison reported, that the committee had come to 
a resolution, which they desired him to report, and to move 
for leave to sit again. 

The resolution agreed to by the committee of the whole 
being read, the determination thereof was, at the request of 
a colony, postponed until to-morrow. 

Resolved , That this Congress will, to-morrow, resolve it¬ 
self into a committee of the whole, to take into considera¬ 
tion the declaration respecting independence. 

Tuesday , July 2, 1776. 

The Congress resumed the consideration of the resolu¬ 
tion reported from the committee of the whole; which was 
agreed to as follows : — 

37* 


(437) 



438 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


Resolved , 9°Rcut tRei>e ^l&rutec) aAe, anA, Vt^-Rt, 

ou,cj,Rt to Re, t^iee cuiA U'L^eftenAei'vb tPbcuteS ; tRab iReij, aAe aG— 
OoEoe^ aCC aXEe^wmce to tRe ctouw, aa <i tRafc a£E 

|voEttloa£ eon/rveoaon/ Retioeen/ tRem/, cwiA tRe £Ptate o| ^^ieat 
am, 1 / 6 -, cwiA otuj&t to Re, tofca/EEij, ctu6-6-o£oecL 


Agreeable to the order of the day, the Congress resolved 
iself into a committee of the whole ; and, after some time, 
the President resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported, 
that the committee have had under consideration the decla¬ 
ration to them referred; but, not having had time to go 
through the same, desired him to move for leave to sit again. 

Resolved, That this Congress will, to-morrow, again re¬ 
solve itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their 
further consideration the declaration respecting independence. 


Wednesday, July 3, 1776. 

Agreeable to the order of the day, the Congress resolved 
itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their further 
consideration the declaration; and, after some time, the 
President resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported, 
that the committee, not having yet gone through it, desired 
leave to sit again. 

Resolved , That this Congress will, to-morrow, again re¬ 
solve itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their 
further consideration the Declaration of Independence. 


Thursday, July 4, 1776. 

Agreeably to the order of the day, the Congress re¬ 
solved itself into a committee of the whole, to take into 
their further consideration the Declaration; and after some 
time the President resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison re¬ 
ported that the committee had agreed to a declaration, which 
they desired him to report. 

The Declaration being read, was agreed to as follows: — 

A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of 
America , in Congress assembled. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes neces¬ 
sary for one people to dissolve the political bands which 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


439 


have connected them with another, and to assume, among 
the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to 
which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, 
a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that 
they should declare the causes which impel them to the 
separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are 
created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with 
certain unalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, 
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just 
powers from the consent of the governed ; that, whenever 
any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, 
it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to 
institute a new government, laying its foundation on such 
principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to 
them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happi¬ 
ness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long 
established, should not be changed for light and transient 
causes ; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown, that 
mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are suffer¬ 
able, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to 
which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of 
abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, 
evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it 
is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, 
and to provide new guards for their future security. Such 
has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such 
is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their for¬ 
mer systems of government. The history of the present 
king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and 
usurpations, all having, in direct object, the establishment of 
an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let 
facts be submitted to a candid world : — 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome 
and necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of imme¬ 
diate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their 


440 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


operation till his assent should be obtained; and, when so 
suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation 
of large districts of people, unless those people would relin¬ 
quish the right of representation in the legislature ; a right 
inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, 
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their pub¬ 
lic records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into com¬ 
pliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for 
opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of 
the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to 
cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, 
incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at 
large for their exercise; the State remaining, in the mean 
time, exposed to all the danger of invasion from without, 
and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these 
States; for that purpose, obstructing the laws for naturaliza¬ 
tion of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage 
their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new 
appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refus¬ 
ing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the 
tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their 
salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither 
swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their 
substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, 
without the consent of our legislature. 

He has aftected to render the military independent of, and 
superior to, the civil power. 

He has combined, with others, to subject us to a jurisdic¬ 
tion foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our 
laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation : 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


441 


For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us : 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment, 
for any murders which they should commit on*the inhabit¬ 
ants of these States : 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world : 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent: 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial 
by jury : 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended 
offences : 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neigh¬ 
boring province, establishing therein an arbitrary govern¬ 
ment, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at 
once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same 
absolute rule into these colonies: 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valua¬ 
ble laws, and altering, fundamentally, the powers of our 
governments: 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring them¬ 
selves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases 
whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out 
of his protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our 
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is, at this tiipe, transporting large armies of foreign 
mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and 
tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cruelty and 
perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and 
totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on 
the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become 
the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall 
themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has 
endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the 
merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an 
undistinguished destruction, of ail ages, sexes, and con¬ 
ditions. 


/ 


442 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned 
for redress, in the most humble terms; our repeated peti¬ 
tions have Ijeen answered only by repeated injury. A 
prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which 
may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British 
brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of at¬ 
tempts made by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable 
jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the cir¬ 
cumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We 
have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, 
and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common 
kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevita¬ 
bly interrupt our connexions and correspondence. They, 
too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and consan¬ 
guinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, 
which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold 
the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS 
assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World 
for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by 
the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly 
publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of 
right ought to be, free and independent states ; that 
they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, 
and that all political connexion between them and the state 
of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and 
that, as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES , 
they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract 
alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and 
things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right 
do. And, for the support of this declaration, with a firm 
reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we 
mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and 
our sacred honor. 

The foregoing declaration was, by order of Congress, en¬ 
grossed, and signed by the following members: 

JOHN HANCOCK. 


declaration of independence. 


443 


New Hampshire. 
Josiah Bartlett, 
William Whipple, 
Matthew Thornton. 
Massachusetts Bay. 
Samuel Adams, 

.lohn Adams, 

Robert Treat Paine, 
Elbridge Gerry. 

Rhode Island. 
Stephen Hopkins, 
William Ellery. 

Connecticut. 

Roger Sherman, 
Samuel Huntington, 
William Williams, 
Oliver Wolcott. 

New York. 
William Floyd, 
Philip Livingston, 
Francis Lewis, 

Lewis Morris. 

New Jersey. 
Richard Stockton, 
John Witherspoon, 
Francis Hopkinson, 
John Hart, 

Abraham Clark. 

Pennsylvania. 
Robert Morris, 
Benjamin Rush, 
Benjamin Franklin, 
John Morton, 

George Clymer, 


James Smith, 

George Taylor, 

James Wilson, 

George Ross. 

Delaware. 

Caesar Rodney, 

George Read, 

Thomas M’Kean. 

Maryland. 

Samuel Chase, 

William Paca, 

Thomas Stone, [rollton. 
Charles Carroll, of Car- 
Virginia. 

George Wythe, 

Richard Henry Lee, 
Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Harrison, 
Thomas Nelson, jun. 
Francis Lightfoot Lee, 
Carter Braxton. 

North Carolina. 
William Hooper, 

Joseph Hewes, 

John Penn. 

South Carolina. 

Edward Rutledge, 
Thomas Heyward, jun. 
Thomas Lynch, jun. 
Arthur Middleton. 
Georgia. 

Button Gwinnett, 

Lyman Hall, 

George Walton. 


Resolved ', That copies of the Declaration be sent to the 
several assemblies, conventions, and committees, or councils 
of safety, and to the several commanding officers of the 
continental troops; that it be proclaimed in each of the 
United States, and at the head of the army. 


I 


THE CONSTITUTION, 

As here presented and authenticated by the certificate of the Secre¬ 
tary of State of the United States, is correctly copied from Mr. Hickey’s 
editioti of the Constitution to which Mr. Buchanan referred. He says, — 

“ Several editions of the Laws printed by different individuals were 
compared, and it was found that one edition contained 204 and another 
176 errors in punctuation of the Constitution ! Many of them are mate¬ 
rial in the construction of the sentences in which they occur. 

“ It was also discovered, that, in the original manuscript, capital let¬ 
ters were used at the beginning of substantives, or nouns, as is under¬ 
stood to have been the practice generally in writing and printing at the 
time the Constitution was written. These appear to be altogether dis¬ 
regarded in the editions above referred to, except in words at the begin¬ 
ning of sentences. 

“ These facts induced the determination to produce a true copy of the 
Constitution in text, orthography, letter, and punctuation, and the rigid 
examination and subsequent verification of the Department having the 
care and custody of the venerated original, attest the success of the un¬ 
dertaking in the production of the following authentic Constitution.” 

(444) 


CONSTITUTION 


OF THE 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 


We the People of the United States, in order to form a 
more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic 
Tranquillity, provide for the common Defence, promote 
the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty 
to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish 
this Constitution for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE I. 

Section 1. 

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a 
Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a 
Senate and House of Representatives. 

Section 2. 

1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of 

Members chosen every second Year by the People of the 
several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the 
Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous 
Branch of the State Legislature. • 

2. No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have 
attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years 
a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when 
elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be 
chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned 
among the several States which may be included within this 
Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall 
be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Per¬ 
sons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, 

38 f 445 ) 



446 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other 
Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within 
three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the 
United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten 
Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law T direct. The 
Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every 
thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at least one 
Representative ; and until such enumeration shall be made, 
the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse 
three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jer¬ 
sey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, 
Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and 
Georgia three. 

4. When Vacancies happen in the Representation from 
any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs 
of Election to fill such Vacancies. 

5. The House of Representatives shall chuse their 
Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power 
of Impeachment. 

Section 3. 

1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of 
two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature 
thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in Conse¬ 
quence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally 
as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of 
the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the sec¬ 
ond Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth 
Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth 
Year, so that one-third may be chosen every second Year; 
and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during 
the Recess of the Legislature bf any State, the Executive 
thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next 
Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Va¬ 
cancies. 

3. No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have at¬ 
tained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


447 


Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elect¬ 
ed, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be 
chosen. 

4. The Vice President of the United States shall be 
President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they 
be equally divided. 

5. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also 
a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice Presi¬ 
dent, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the 
United States. 

6. The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Im¬ 
peachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be 
on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United 
States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside : And no 
Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two 
thirds of the Members present. 

7. Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend 
further than to removal from Office, and Disqualification 
to hold and enjoy any Office of Honour, Trust or Profit under 
the United States: but the Party convicted shall neverthe¬ 
less be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and 
Punishment, according to Law. 

Section 4. 

1. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections 
for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each 
State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at 
any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as 
to the places of chusing Senators. 

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every 
Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in 
December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day. 

Section 5. 

1. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Re¬ 
turns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority 
of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a 
smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be 
authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in 


448 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House ma y 
provide. 

2. Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceed¬ 
ings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with 
the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member. 

3. Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, 
and from time to time publish the same, excepting such 
Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the 
Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any ques¬ 
tion shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be en¬ 
tered on the Journal. 

4. Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, 
without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than, 
three Days, nor to any other Place than that in which the 
two Houses shall be sitting. 

Section 6. 

1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Com¬ 
pensation for their Services, to he ascertained by Law, and 
paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall 
in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the 
Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at 
the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and 
returning from the same ; and for any Speech or Debate in 
either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. 

2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time 
for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office 
under the Authority of the United States, which shall have 
been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been 
encreased during such time; and no Person holding any 
Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either 
House during his Continuance in Office. 

Section 7. 

1. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the 
House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or 
concur with Amendments as on other Bills. 

2. Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Rep¬ 
resentatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


449 


be presented to the President of the United States; If he 
approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with 
his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, 
who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and 
proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two 
thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be 
sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by 
which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by 
two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in 
all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined 
by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for 
and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each 
House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by 
the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it 
shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a law, 
in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress 
by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it 
shall not be a Law. 

3. Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concur¬ 
rence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be 
necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be 
presented to the President of the United States; and before 
the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or 
being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds 
of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to 
the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill. 

Section 8. 

The Congress shall have Power 

1. To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Ex¬ 
cises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common De¬ 
fence and general Welfare of the United States; but all 
Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout 
the United States; 

2. To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; 

3. To regulate Commerce with foreign -Nations, and 
among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes ; 

4. To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and 

38* 


450 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK# 


uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the 
United States ; 

5. To coin Money* regulate the Value thereof, and of 
foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Meas¬ 
ures ; 

6. To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the 
Securities and current Coin of the United States; 

7. To establish Post Offices and post Roads; 

8. To promote the progress of Science and useful Arts, 
by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the 
exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries ; 

9. To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; 

10. To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed 
on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; 

11. To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Re¬ 
prisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and 
Water; 

12. To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation 
of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two 
Years; 

13. To provide and maintain a Navy ; 

14. To make Rules for the Government and Regulation 
of the land and naval Forces; 

15. To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute 
the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel 
Invasions; 

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, 
the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may he 
employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to 
the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and 
the Authority of training the Militia according to the Disci¬ 
pline prescribed by Congress ; 

17. To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatso¬ 
ever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as 
may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of 
Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United 
States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places pur¬ 
chased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in 
which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Maga- 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


451 


zines, Arsenals, Dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings ; — 
And 

18. To make all Laws which shall be necessary and 
proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, 
and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Gov¬ 
ernment of the United States, or in any Department or 
Officer thereof. 


Section 9. 

1. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any 
of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall 
not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one 
thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or Duty may 
be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars 
for each Person. 

2. The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not 
be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion 
the public Safety may require it. 

3. No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be 
passed. 

4. No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless 
in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before 
directed to be taken. 

5. No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported 
from any State. 

6. No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of 
Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those 
of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, 
be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another. 

7. No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in 
Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regu¬ 
lar Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expendi¬ 
tures of all public Money shall be published from time to 
time. 

8. No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United 
States : And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust 
under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, ac¬ 
cept of* any Present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any 
kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. 


# 


452 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOKr 


Section 10. 

1. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or 
Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin 
Money ; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold 
and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts ; pass any 
Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the' 
Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility. 

2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, 
lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except 
what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspec¬ 
tion Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, 
laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the 
Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such 
Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the 
Congress. 

3. No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay 
any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in 
time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with 
another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, 
unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will 
not admit of Delay. 


ARTICLE II. 

Section 1. 

1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President of 
the United States of America. He shall hold his Office dur¬ 
ing the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice 
President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows 

2. Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legis¬ 
lature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal 
to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to 
which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no 
Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of 
Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed 
an Elector. 

[ * The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Bal¬ 
lot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of 


* This clause within brackets has been superceded and annulled by the 
12th amendment, on page 462. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 453 

/ 

the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the 
Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each 5 which List they 
shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government 
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The Pres¬ 
ident of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of 
Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be 
counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the 
President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Elect¬ 
ors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, 
and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives 
shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no 
Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said 
House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the 
President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from 
each State having one Vote; A Quorum for this Purpose shall consist 
of a Member or Members from twothirds of the States, and a Majority 
of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the 
Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes 
of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain 
two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them 
by Ballot the Vice President.] 

3. The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the 
Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; 
which Day shall be the same throughout the United States. 

4. No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen 
of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this 
Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; 
neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall 
not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been 
fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. 

5. In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, 
or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the 
Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve 
on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide 
for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation, or Inability, 
both of the President and Vice President, declaring what 
Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall 
act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a Presi¬ 
dent shall be elected. 

6. The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his 
Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased 


454 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


nor diminished during 1 the Period for which F/e shaFF have 
been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any 
other Emolument from the United States, or any of them. 

7. Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he 
shall take the following Oath or Affirmation : — 

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully ex- 
“ ecute the Office of President of the United States, and will 
“to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the 
“ Constitution of the United States. 

Section 2. 

1. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the 
Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of 
the several States, when called into the actual Service of the 
United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of 
the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments,, 
upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective 
Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Par¬ 
dons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases 
of Impeachment. 

2. He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Con¬ 
sent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of 
the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by 
and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint 
Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of 
the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United 
States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise pro¬ 
vided for, and which shall be established by Law : but the 
Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior 
Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the 
Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. 

3. The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacan¬ 
cies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by 
granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their 
next Session. 

Section 3. 

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Informa¬ 
tion of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Con- 


'CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


455 


**iaeration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and ex¬ 
pedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both 
Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement be¬ 
tween them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he 
may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he 
shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; be 
shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and 
shall Commission all the officers of the United States. 

Section 4. 

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the 
United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeach¬ 
ment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high 
Crimes and Misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III. 

Section 1. 

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested 
an one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the 
Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The 
Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold 
their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated 
Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which 
shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office. 

Section 2 . 

1. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law 
and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the 
United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, 
under their Authority; — to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, 
other public Ministers, and Consuls; — to all Cases of admi¬ 
ralty and maritime Jurisdiction ; — to Controversies to which 
the United States shall be a Party ;—to Controversies be¬ 
tween two or more States ; — between a State and Citizens 
of another State ; — between Citizens of different States, — 
between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under 
Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citi¬ 
zens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. 


456 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


2. In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Minis¬ 
ters and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, 
the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all 
the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall 
have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with 
such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Con¬ 
gress shall make. 

3. The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeach¬ 
ment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the 
State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but 
when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at 
such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have 
directed. 

Section 3. 

1 . Treason against the United States, shall consist only in 
levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, 
giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be con¬ 
victed of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses 
to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. 

2. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punish¬ 
ment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work 
Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of 
the Person attainted. 


ARTICLE IV. 

Section 1. 

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the 
public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every 
other State. And the Congress may by general Laws pre¬ 
scribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Pro¬ 
ceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. 

Section 2. 

1. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Priv¬ 
ileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. 

2. A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, 
or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


457 


another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority 
of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be re¬ 
moved to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime. 

3. No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, un¬ 
der the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Conse¬ 
quence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged 
from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on 
Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may 
be due. 

Section 3. 

1 . New States may be admitted by the Congress into this 
Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within 
the Jurisdiction of any other State ; nor any State be formed 
by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, 
without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States con¬ 
cerned as well as of the Congress. 

2. The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and 
make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Ter¬ 
ritory or other Property belonging to the United States; 
and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to 
Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any par¬ 
ticular State. 

Section 4. 

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this 
Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect 
each of them against Invasion ; and on Application of the 
Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature can¬ 
not be convened) against domestic Violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall 
deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Consti¬ 
tution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two 
thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for pro¬ 
posing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to 
all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when 
ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several 
States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one 
39 


458 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the 
Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be 
made prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and 
eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses 
in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, 
without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage 
in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. 

1. All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, 
before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall he as valid 
against the United States under this Constitution, as under 
the Confederation. 

2. This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States 
which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties 
made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the 
United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and 
the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing 
in the Constitution or Laws of any State to\ the Contrary 
notwithstanding. 

3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, 
and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all 
executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and 
of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, 
to support this Constitution ; but no religious Test shall ever 
be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust 
under the United States. 

ARTICLE VII. 

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall 
be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution be¬ 
tween the States so ratifying the Same. 

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the 
States present the Seventeenth Day of September in 
the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and 
Eighty seven and of the Independance of the United 
States of America the Twelfth Ill 'Witn CSS where¬ 
of We have hereunto subscribed our Names, 

GEO WASHINGTON — 
Presidt and deputy from Virginia 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


459 


NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. 

CONNECTICUT. 

Wm. Saml. Johnson, Roger Sherman. 

NEW YORK. 

Alexander Hamilton. 

NEW JERSEY. 


Wil: Livingston, 

David Brearley, 

Wm. Paterson, 

Jona. Dayton. 


PENNSYLVANIA. 

B. Franklin, 

Thomas Mifflin, 

Robt. Morris, 

Geo : Clymer, 

Tho : Fitzsimons, 

Jared Ingersoll, 

James Wilson, 

Gouv: Morris. 


DELAWARE. 

Geo : Read, 

Gunning Bedford, Jun’r, 

John Dickinson, 
Jaco : Broom. 

Richard Bassett, 


MARYLAND. 

James M’Henry 

Dan : of St. Thos. Jenifer, 

Danl. Carroll. 

VIRGINIA. 

John Blair, 

James Madison, Jr., 


NORTH CAROLINA. 

Wm. Blount, 

Rich’d Dobbs Spaight, 

Hu. Williamson. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

J. Rutledge, 

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 

Charles Pinckney 

, Pierce Butler. 


GEORGIA. 

William Few, 

Abr. Baldwin. 

Attest: 

WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. 


ARTICLES 

IN ADDITION TO, AND AMENDMENT OF, 

THE CONSTITUTION 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Proposed by Congress , and ratified by the Legislatures of the 
several States, pursuant to the fifth article of the original 
Constitution. 


ARTICLE I. 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment 
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or 
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the 
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition 
the Government for a redress of grievances. 

ARTICLE II. 

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security 
of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear 
Arms, shall not be infringed. 

ARTICLE III. 

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any 
house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, 
but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches 
and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall 
issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affir¬ 
mation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, 
and the persons or things to be seized. 


(460) 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


461 


ARTICLE V. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or other¬ 
wise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment 
of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising* in the land or naval 
forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of 
War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for 
the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; 
nor shall be compelled in any Criminal Case to be a witness 
against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law; nor shall private property be 
taken for public use, without just compensation. 

ARTICLE VI. 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the 
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of 
the State and district wherein the crime shall have been 
committed, which district shall have been previously ascer¬ 
tained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause 
of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses 
against him ; to have Compulsory process for obtaining Wit¬ 
nesses in his favour, and to have the Assistance of Counsel 
for his defence. 

ARTICLE VII. 

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy 
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall 
be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise 
re-examined in any Court of the United States, than accord¬ 
ing to the rules of the common law. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

ARTICLE IX. 

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, 
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained 
by the people. 


39 * 


462 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


ARTICLE X. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the 
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved 
to the States respectively, or to the people. 

ARTICLE XI. 

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be con¬ 
strued to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or 
prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of 
another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign 
State. 

ARTICLE XII. 

1 . The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and 
vote by ballot for President and Vice President, one of 
whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state 
with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person 
voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person 
voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct 
lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all per¬ 
sons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of 
votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and 
transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United 
States, directed to the President of the Senate; — The 
President of the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate 
and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and 
the votes shall then be counted;—The person having the 
greatest number of votes for President, shall be the Presi¬ 
dent, if such number be a majority of the whole number of 
Electors appointed ; and if no person have such majority, 
then from the persons having the highest numbers not ex¬ 
ceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, 
the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by 
ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the 
votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each 
state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall con¬ 
sist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, 
and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES* 


463 


choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not 
choose a President whenever the right of choice shall de¬ 
volve upon them, before the fourth day of March next fol¬ 
lowing, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in 
the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the 
President. 

2. The person having the greatest number of votes as 
Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number 
be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, 
and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest 
numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-Presi¬ 
dent ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds 
of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the 
whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 

3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office 
of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of 
the United States. 


DATES OF THE ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION, AND OF THE 
AMENDMENTS. 


The Constitution, . . 

The first ten Amendments, 
The eleventh Amendment, 
The twelfth Amendment,. 


17th September, 1787. 
15th December, 1791. 
8 th January, 1798. 
25th September, 1804. 




464 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


)etvcittm,en.t op tJ tate, 

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FROM THE HON. DANIEL WEBSTER, SECRETARY OF STATE 
OF THE UNITED STATES. 

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WASHINGTON’S 

FAREWELL ADDRESS 

TO THE 

PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Friends and Fellow-Citizens, — The period for a new 
election of a citizen, to administer the executive government 
of the United States, being not far distant, and the time ac¬ 
tually arrived, when your thoughts must be employed in 
designating the person, who is to be clothed with that impor¬ 
tant trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may con¬ 
duce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that 
I should now apprize you of the resolution I have formed, 
to decline being considered among the number of those, out 
of whom a choice is to be made. 

I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be 
assured, that this resolution has not been taken without a 
strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the rela¬ 
tion, which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that, 
in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my 
situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of 
zeal for your future interest; no deficiency o'f grateful re¬ 
spect for your past kindness; but am supported by a full 
conviction that the step is compatible with both. 

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office 
to which your suffrages have twice called me, have been a 
uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and 
to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I con¬ 
stantly hoped, that it would have been much earlier in my 
power, consistently with motives, which I was not at liberty 
to disregard, to return to that retirement, from which I had 
been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to 
do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the 
preparation of an address to declare it to you ; but mature 

reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of our 

(465) 



466 


CONSTITUTIONxVL TEXT BOOK. 


affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of 
persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon 
the idea. 

I rejoice, that the state of your concerns, external as well 
as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination in¬ 
compatible with the sentiment of duty, or propriety; and 
am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my 
services, that, in the present circumstances of our country, 
you will not disapprove my determination to retire. 

The impressions, with which I first undertook the ardu¬ 
ous trust, were explained on the proper occasion. In the 
discharge of this trust, I will only say, that I have, with 
good intentions, contributed towards the organization and 
administration of the government the best exertions of which 
a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious, in 
the outset, of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience 
in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, 
has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and 
every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me 
more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary 
to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied, that, if any circum¬ 
stances have given peculiar value to my services, they were 
temporary, I have the consolation to believe, that, while 
choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, 
patriotism does not forbid it. 

In looking*forward to the moment, which is intended to 
terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not 
permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that 
debt of gratitude, which I owe to my beloved country for 
the many honors it has conferred upon me; still more for 
the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me; 
and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifest¬ 
ing my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and perse¬ 
vering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If bene¬ 
fits have resulted to our country from these services, let it 
always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive 
example in our annals, that under circumstances in which 
the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mis¬ 
lead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of 


Washington’s farewell address. 


467 


fortune often discouraging, in situations in which not unfre- 
quently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criti¬ 
cism, the constancy of your support was the essential prop 
of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they 
were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall 
carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to un¬ 
ceasing vows that Heaven may continue to you the choicest 
tokens of its beneficence; that your union and brotherly 
affection may be perpetual; that the free constitution, which 
is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained; 
that its administration in every department may be stamped 
with wisdom and virtue; that, in fine, the happiness of the 
people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be 
made complete, by so careful a preservation and so prudent 
a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them the glory of 
recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption 
of every nation, which is yet a stranger to it. 

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your 
welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the appre¬ 
hension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an 
occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contem¬ 
plation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some 
sentiments, which are the result of much reflection, of no 
inconsiderable observation, and which appear ,to me all-im¬ 
portant to the permanency of your felicity as a People. 
These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you 
can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting 
friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his 
counsel. Nor can 1 forget, as an encouragement to it, your 
indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not 
dissimilar occasion. 

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament 
of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to 
fortify or confirm the attachment. 

The unity of Government, which constitutes you one peo¬ 
ple, is also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a 
main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the sup¬ 
port of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad; of 
your safety ; of your prosperity ; of that very Liberty, which 


468 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee, that, from 
different causes and from different quarters, much pains will 
be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds 
the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your 
political fortress against which the batteries of internal and 
external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though 
often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite mo¬ 
ment, that you should properly estimate the immense value 
of your national Union to your collective and individual hap¬ 
piness ; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and im¬ 
movable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think 
and speak of it as of the Palladium of your political safety 
and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous 
anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a sus¬ 
picion, that it can in any event be abandoned ; and indig¬ 
nantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to 
alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to en¬ 
feeble the sacred ties which now link together the various 
parts. 

For this you have every inducement of sympathy and in¬ 
terest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, 
that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The 
name of American, which belongs to you, in your national 
capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, 
more than any appellation derived from local discrimina¬ 
tions. With slight shades of difference, you have the same 
religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have 
in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the In¬ 
dependence and Liberty you possess are the work of joint 
counsels, and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, 
and successes. 

But these considerations, however powerfully they address 
themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by 
those, which apply more immediately to your interest. Here 
every portion of our country finds the most commanding 
motives for carefully guarding and preserving the Union of 
the whole. 

The North , in an unrestrained intercourse with the South , 
protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds, 


Washington’s farewell address. 469 

in the productions of the latter, great additional resources 
of maritime and commercial enterprise and precious mate¬ 
rials of manufacturing industry. The South , in the same 
intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its 
agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly 
into its own channels the seamen of the North , it finds its 
particular navigation invigorated; and, while it contributes, 
in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass 
of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection 
of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. 
The East , in a like intercourse with the West, already finds, 
and in the progressive improvement of interior communica¬ 
tions by land and water, will more and more find, a valua¬ 
ble vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or 
manufactures at home. The West derives from the East 
supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, and, what is 
perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity 
owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own 
productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime 
strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an in¬ 
dissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any other 
tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, 
whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an 
apostate and unnatural connexion with any foreign power, 
must be intrinsically precarious. 

While, then, every part of our country thus feels an im¬ 
mediate and particular interest in Union, all the parts com¬ 
bined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and 
efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably 
greater security from external danger, a less frequent inter¬ 
ruption of their peace by foreign nations; and, what is of 
inestimable value, they must derive from Union an exemp¬ 
tion from those broils and wars between themselves, which 
so frequently afflict neighboring countries not tied together 
by the same governments, which their own rivalships alone 
would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign 
alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and em¬ 
bitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of 
those overgrown military establishments, which, under any 
40 


470 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which 
are to be regarded as particularly hostile to Republican Lib¬ 
erty. In this sense it is, that your Union ought to be con¬ 
sidered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love 
of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the 
other. 

These considerations speak a persuasive language to every 
reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of 
the Union as a primary object of Patriotic desire. Is there 
a doubt, whether a common government can embrace so 
large a sphere ? Let experience solve it. To listen to 
mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are 
authorized to hope, that a proper organization of the whole, 
with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective 
subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It 
is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such power¬ 
ful and obvious motives to Union, affecting all parts of our 
country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its 
impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the 
patriotism of those, who in any quarter may endeavour to 
weaken its bands. 

In contemplating the causes, which may disturb our 
Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern, that any 
ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties 
by Geographical discriminations, Northern and Southern, At¬ 
lantic and Western; whence designing men may endeavour 
to excite a belief, that there is a real difference of local 
interests and views. One of the expedients of party to 
acquire influence, within particular districts, is to misrepre¬ 
sent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot 
shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart¬ 
burnings, which spring from these misrepresentations; they 
tend to render alien to each other those, who ought to be 
bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of 
our western country have lately had a useful lesson on this 
head ; they have seen, in the negotiation by the Executive, 
and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the treaty 
with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event, 
throughout the United States, a decisive proof how un- 


Washington’s farewell address. 471 

founded were the suspicions propagated among them of a 
policy in the General Government and in the Atlantic States 
unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississippi; 
they have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties, 
that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secure 
to them every thing they could desire, in respect to our for¬ 
eign relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it 
not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these 
advantages on the Union by which they were procured ? 
Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such 
there are, who would sever them from their brethren, and 
connect them with aliens ? 

To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a Gov¬ 
ernment for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, how¬ 
ever strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; 
they must inevitably experience the infractions and interrup¬ 
tions, which all alliances in all times have experienced. 
Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon 
your first essay, by the adoption of a Constitution of Gov¬ 
ernment better calculated than your former for an intimate 
Union, and for the efficacious management of your common 
concerns. This Government, the offspring of our own 
choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investi¬ 
gation and mature deliberation, completely free in its prin¬ 
ciples, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with 
energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own 
amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your 
support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, 
acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fun¬ 
damental maxims of true Liberty. The basis of our politi¬ 
cal systems is the right of the people to make and to alter 
their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution 
which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and 
authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory 
upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the 
people to establish Government presupposes the duty of 
every individual to obey the established Government. 

All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all com¬ 
binations and associations, under whatever plausible char- 


472 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


acter, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or 
awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted 
authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, 
and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to 
give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the 
place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, 
often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the com¬ 
munity ; and, according to the alternate triumphs of differ¬ 
ent parties, to make the public administration the mirror of 
the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather 
than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested 
by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests. 

However combinations or associations of the above de¬ 
scription may now and then answer popular ends, they are 
likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent 
engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men 
will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to 
usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying 
afterwards the very engines, which have lifted them to unjust 
dominion. 

Towards the preservation of your government, and the 
permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not 
only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions 
to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with 
care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however 
specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to 
effect, in the forms of the constitution, alterations, which 
will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine 
what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to 
which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are 
at least as necessary to fix the true character of govern¬ 
ments, as of other human institutions ; that experience is the 
surest standard, by which to test the real tendency of the 
existing constitution of a country; that facility in changes, 
upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to 
perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and 
opinion ; and remember, especially, that, for the efficient 
management of your common interests, in a country so ex¬ 
tensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consist- 


Washington’s farewell address. 


473 


ent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. 
Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers 
properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, 
indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too 
feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine 
each member of the society within the limits prescribed by 
the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil en¬ 
joyment of the rights of person and property. 

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in 
the state, with particular reference to the founding of them 
on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more 
comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn man¬ 
ner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, gener- , 
ally. 

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, 
having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. 

It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or 
less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the 
popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly 
their worst enemy. 

The alternate domination of one faction over another, 
sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissen¬ 
sion, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated 
the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. 
But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent 
despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, grad¬ 
ually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose 
in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later 
the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more for¬ 
tunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the pur¬ 
poses of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty. 

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, 
(which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight,) 
the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party 
are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise peo¬ 
ple to discourage and restrain it. 

It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and en- , 
feeble the Public Administration. It agitates the Commu- j 
nity with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the 
40 * 


474 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally 
riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influ¬ 
ence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the 
government itself through the channels of party passions. 
Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected 
to the policy and will of another. 

There is an opinion, that parties in free countries are use¬ 
ful checks upon the administration of the Government, and 
serve to keep alive the spirit of Liberty. This within cer¬ 
tain limits is probably true; and in Governments of a Mo¬ 
narchical cast, Patriotism may look with indulgence, if not 
with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the 
popular character, in Governments purely elective, it is a 
spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, 
it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for 
every salutary purpose. And, there being constant danger 
of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, 
to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it 
demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a 
flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. 

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a 
free country should inspire caution, in those intrusted with 
its administration, to confine themselves within their respec¬ 
tive constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the 
powers of one department to encroach upon another. The 
spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of 
all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the 
form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of 
that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which pre¬ 
dominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of 
the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal 
checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and 
distributing it into different depositories, and constituting 
each the Guardian of the Public Weal against invasions by 
the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and 
modern ; some of them in our country and under our own 
eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to insti¬ 
tute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution 
or modification of the constitutional powers be in any par- 




Washington’s farewell address. 475 

ticular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment, in the 
way which the constitution designates. But let there be no 
change by usurpation ; for, though this, in one instance, may 
be tlie instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by 
which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must 
always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or 
transient benefit, which the use can at any time yield. 

Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political 
prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. 
In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who 
should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happi¬ 
ness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. 
The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to 
respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all 
their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it 
simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for 
reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert 
tbe oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in 
Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the 
supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. 
Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined edu¬ 
cation on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience 
both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail 
in exclusion of religious principle. 

It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a neces¬ 
sary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, ex¬ 
tends with more or Jess force to every species of free gov¬ 
ernment. Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with 
indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of .the 
fabric ? 

Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, insti¬ 
tutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In propor¬ 
tion as the structure of a government gives force to public 
opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlight¬ 
ened. 

As a very important source of strength and security, 
cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is, to 
use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occasions of ex¬ 
pense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely 


476 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much 
greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the 
accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of 
expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to dis¬ 
charge the debts, which unavoidable wars may have occa¬ 
sioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen, 
which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these 
maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary 
that public opinion should cooperate. To facilitate to them 
the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should 
practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts 
there must be Revenue; that to have Revenue there must 
be taxes; that no taxes can be devised, which are not more 
or less inconvenient and unpleasant; that the intrinsic em¬ 
barrassment, inseparable from the selection of the proper 
objects (which is always a choice of difficulties), ought to be 
a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct 
of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acquies¬ 
cence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the pub¬ 
lic exigencies may at any time dictate. 

Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations; cul¬ 
tivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and Morality 
enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does 
not equally enjoin it ? It will be worthy of a free, enlight¬ 
ened, and, at no distant period, a great Nation, to give to 
mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a peo¬ 
ple always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. 
Who can doubt, that, in the course of time and things, the 
fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary ad¬ 
vantages, which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? 
Can it be, that Providence has not connected the permanent 
felicity of a Nation with its Virtue ? The experiment, at 
least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles hu¬ 
man nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices 1 

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential, 
than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular 
Nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be 
excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feel¬ 
ings towards all should be cultivated. The Nation, which 


Washington’s farewell address. 


477 


indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual 
fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its ani¬ 
mosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead 
it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one 
nation against another disposes each more readily to offer 
I insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, 
,and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling 
'occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions, ob¬ 
stinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The Nation, 
prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to 
war the Government, contrary to the best calculations of 
policy. The Government sometimes participates in the 
national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason 
would reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of the 
nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, 
ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The 
peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of Nations has 
been the victim. * 

So likewise, a passionate attachment of one Nation for 
another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favor¬ 
ite Nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common 
interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, and 
infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former 
into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, 
without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also 
to concessions to the favorite Nation of privileges denied to 
others, which is apt doubly to injure the Nation making the 
concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to 
have been retained; and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a 
disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal priv¬ 
ileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, 
or deluded citizens, (who devote themselves to the favorite 
nation,) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their 
own country, without odium, sometimes even with popular¬ 
ity ; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of 
obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a 
laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compli¬ 
ances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. 

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such 


478 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlight¬ 
ened and independent Patriot. How many opportunities do 
they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practise the 
arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or 
awe the Public Councils ! Such an attachment of a small 
or weak, towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the 
former to be the satellite of the latter. 

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure 
you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free 
people ought to be constantly awake; since history and ex¬ 
perience prove, that foreign influence is one of the most 
baneful foes of Republican Government. But that jealousy, 
to be useful, must be impartial; else it becomes the instru¬ 
ment of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a de¬ 
fence against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, 
and excessive dislike of another, cause those whom they ac¬ 
tuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and 
even second the arts of influence on the other. Real pa¬ 
triots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable 
to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes 
usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surren¬ 
der their interests. 

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign 
nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have 
with them as little political connexion as possible. So far 
as we have already formed engagements, let them be ful¬ 
filled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. 

Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have 
none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be en¬ 
gaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are 
essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it 
must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, 
in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary 
combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. 

Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us 
to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, un¬ 
der an efficient government, the period is not far off, when 
we may defy material injury from external annoyance ; when 
we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality, 


Washington’s farewell address. 


4TC) 


we may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously re¬ 
spected ; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility 
of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the 
giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, 
as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. 

Why forgo the advantages of so peculiar a situation ? 
Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground ? Why, 
by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Eu¬ 
rope, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of Euro¬ 
pean ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice 1 

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances 
with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as 
we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood 
as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. 
I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private 
affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, 
therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genu¬ 
ine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would 
be unwise to extend them. 

Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable estab¬ 
lishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely 
trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies. 

Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recom¬ 
mended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our 
commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand ; 
neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences ; 
consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversi¬ 
fying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing 
nothing; establishing, with powers so disposed, in order to 
give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our mer¬ 
chants, and to enable the government to support them, con¬ 
ventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circum¬ 
stances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and 
liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as expe¬ 
rience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping 
in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested 
favors from another; that it must pay with a portion of its 
independence for whatever it may accept under that char¬ 
acter; that, by such acceptance, it may place itself in the 


480 


CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. 


condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and 
yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. 
There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate 
upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion, 
which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to dis¬ 
card. 

In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an 
old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make 
the Strong and lasting impression I could wish ; that they 
will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our 
nation from running the course, which has hitherto marked 
the destiny of nations. But, if I may even flatter myself, 
that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some 
occasional good ; that they may now and then recur to mod¬ 
erate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs 
of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pre¬ 
tended patriotism ; this hope will be a full recompense for the 
solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated. 

How far in the discharge of my official duties, I have 
been guided by the principles which have been delineated, 
the public records and other evidences of my conduct must 
witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance 
of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed my¬ 
self to be guided by them. 

In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my Proc¬ 
lamation of the 22d of April, 1793, is the index to my Plan. 
Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your 
Representatives in both Houses of Congress, the spirit of 
that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by 
any attempts to deter or divert me from it. 

After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best 
lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, 
under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, 
and was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral posi¬ 
tion. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should de¬ 
pend upon me, to maintain it, with moderation, persever¬ 
ance, and firmness. 

The considerations, which respect the right to hold this 
conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I 


Washington’s farewell address. 


481 


will only observe, that, according to my understanding of 
the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of 
the Belligerent Powers, has been virtually admitted by all. 

The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, 
without any thing more, from the obligation which justice 
and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it 
is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace 
and amity towards other nations. 

The inducements of interest for observing that conduct 
will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. 
With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavour to 
gain time to our country to settle aud mature its yet recent 
institutions, and to progress without interruption to that de¬ 
gree of strength and consistency, which is necessary to give 
it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes. 

Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, 
I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too 
sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may 
have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I 
fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils 
to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the 
hope, that my Country will never cease to view them with 
indulgence; and that, after forty-five years of my life dedi¬ 
cated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incom¬ 
petent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must 
soon be to the mansions of rest. 

Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and ac¬ 
tuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to 
a man, who views in it the native soil of himself and his pro¬ 
genitors for several generations; I anticipate with pleasing 
expectation that retreat, in which I promise myself to real¬ 
ize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the 
midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good 
laws under a free government, the ever favorite object of 
my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual 
cares, labors, and dangers. 


41 


United States , 

September 17 th, 1796. 


George Washington. 


The following Note is taken from Mr. Sparks’s edition of the Writings 
of Washington, from which the Farewell Address is correctly copied, in 
text, orthography, and punctuation: — 

This Address is here printed from a copy of “ Claypoole's American 
Daily Advertiser for September 19, 1796. On this paper are indorsed 
the following words, in Washington’s handwriting, which were designed 
as an instruction to the copyist, who recorded the Address in the letter 
book: — 

“ The letter contained in this gazette, addressed ‘ To the People of 
the United States,’ is to be recorded, and in the order of its date. Let 
it have a blank page before and after it, so as to stand distinct. Let it 
be written with a letter larger and fuller than the common recording 
hand. And where words are printed with capital letters, it is to be done 
so in recording. And those other words, that are printed in italics, 
must be scored underneath and straight by a ruler.” 


(482) 


CHRONOLOGICAL SERIES OF EVENTS IN THE 
EARLY PART OP MR. WEBSTER’S LIFE. 


\ 


Bokn 18th of January, 1782, in Salisbury,* N. H. 

Sent to Exeter Academy May, 1796, and remained only a few months. 
Prepared for college by the Rev. Mr. Wood, of Boscawen. 

Entered Dartmouth College in 1797. 

Completed his college course in August, 1801, and immediately entered 
the office of Mr. Thompson, next door neighbor to his father, as a 
student of law. Mr. Thompson was a gentleman of education and 
intelligence, and was afterward a member of both houses of Congress. 
Mr. Webster remained in his office till, in the words of Mr. March, “ he 
felt it necessary to go somewhere and do something to earn a little 
money.” In this emergency, application was made to him to take 
charge of an academy at Fryeburg, in Maine, upon a salary of about 
one dollar per diem. As he was able, besides, to earn enough to pay 
for his board and to defray his other expenses by acting as assistant to 
the register of deeds for the county, his salary was all saved — a fund 
foj his own professional education, and to help his brother through 
college. In July, 1804, he took up his residence in Boston. Before 
entering upon the practice of his profession, he enjoyed the advantage 
of pursuing his legal studies for six or eight months in the office of 
the Hon. Christopher Gore. This was a fortunate event for Mr. Web¬ 
ster. Mr. Gore, afterwards Governor of Massachusetts, was a lawyer 
of eminence, a statesman, and a civilian, a gentleman of the old 
school of manners, and a rare example of distinguished intellectual 
qualities united with practical good sense and judgment. We will 
close this notice by an extract from Mr. Choate’s Eulogy, delivered 
before the Faculty, Students, and Alumni of Dartmouth College, 
commemorative of Daniel Webster: — 

“ And so he has put on the robe of manhood, and has come to do the 
work of life. Of his youth there is no need to say more. It. had been 
pure, happy, strenuous ; in many things privileged. The influence of 
home, of his father and the excellent mother, and that noble brother 
whom he loved so dearly and mourned with such sorrow — these influ¬ 
ences on his heart, principles, will, aims, were elevated and strong. At 
an early age, comparatively, the then great distinction of liberal educa¬ 
tion was his. His college life was brilliant and without a stain; and in 
moving his admission to the bar, Mr. Gore presented him as one of ex¬ 
traordinary promise: — 

* In 1828, the town of Franklin was incorporated from parts of four towns, and m 
eluded that part of Salisbury in which the Webster homestead was situated. 



484 


EXTRACT FROM MR. CHOATE’S EULOGY. 


‘ With prospects bright upon the world he came — 

Pure love of virtue, strong desire of fame ; 

Men watched the way his lofty mind would take, 

And all foretold the progress lie would make.’ 

“ And yet, if on some day, as that season was drawing to its close, it 
had been foretold to him that before his life, prolonged to little more than 
threescore years and ten, should end, he should see that country in 
which he was coming to act his part expanded across a continent, — the 
thirteen states of 1801 multiplied to thirty-one, the'territory of the North- 
West, the great valley below, sown full of those stars of empire, the 
Mississippi forded, and the Sabine, the Rio Grande, and the Nueces, the 
ponderous gates of the Rocky Mountains opened to shut no more, the 
great tranquil sea become our sea, — her area seven times larger, her 
people five times more in number — that through all the experiences of tri¬ 
al, the madness of party, the injustice of foreign powers, the vast enlarge¬ 
ment of her territory, the antagonism of interior interest and feeling, the 
spirit of nationality would grow stronger still and more plastic, — that 
the tide of American feeling would run ever fuller — that her agricul¬ 
ture would grow more scientific — her arts more various and instructed, 
and better rewarded — her commerce winged to a wider and still wider 
flight, — that the part she would play in human affairs would grow no¬ 
bler ever and more recognized, — that in this vast growth of national 
greatness, time would be found for the higher necessities of the soul, — 
that her popular and her higher education would go on advancing 
— that her charities and all her enterprises of philanthropy would go on 
enlarging — that her age of lettered glory should find its auspicious 
dawn ; and then it had also been foretold him that even so, with her growth 
and strength, should his fame grow and be established and cherished, 
there where she should garner up her heart; — that by long gradations 
of service and labor he should rise to be, before he should taste of death, 
of the peerless among her great ones — that he should win the double 
honor, wear the double wreath, of professional and public supremacy; 
that he should become her wisest to counsel, and her most eloquent to 
persuade ; that he should come to be called the Defender of the Consti¬ 
tution and Preserver of Honorable Peace, that the ‘ austere glory of dif¬ 
fering ’ to save the Union should be his, — that his death, at the summit 
of greatness, on the verge of a ripe and venerable age, should be distin¬ 
guished less by the flags at half mast on ocean and lake, less by the min¬ 
ute gun, less by the public procession and the appointed eulogy, than by 
sudden paleness overspreading all faces, by gushing tears, by sorrow, 
thoughtful, boding, silent, the sense of desolation, as if renown and grace 
were dead — as if the hunters’ path and the sailors’, in the great solitude 
of the wilderness or sea, henceforward were more lonely and less safe 
than before, — had this prediction been whispered, how calmly had that 
perfect sobriety of mind put it all aside as a pernicious or idle dream ! 
Yet in the fulfilment of that prediction is told the remaining story of his 
life.” 

It is related by the friends of Mr. Webster who were present at his 
death, that, a short time before he breathed his last, he fell into a light 
slumber, which lasted some time; and when lie awoke, he opened his 
eyes, and, realizing ivhere he was, spoke, in his deep-ton^d voice, I still 
live ! Prophetic words, and will be true as long as the English lan¬ 
guage is spoken. 


INDEX 


TO THE SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


A. 

“ACCEDE,” a word not found in the Constitution, 162. 

Adams and Jefferson, coincidences in the death and lives of, 62. 

members of the committee to prepare the Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence, 72. 

Adams, John, birth and education, 66. 
admitted to the bar, 66. 
defends British officers and soldiers, 67. 
a remarkable letter of, 68. 
delegate to Congress, 69. 
important resolution, reported by, 72. 
power in debate, 76. 
knowledge of colonial history, 77. 
supposed speech in favor of independence, 80. 
minister abroad, 84. 

delegate to Massachusetts Convention, 84. 

Vice President and President of the United States, 85. 
his description of the first prayer in Congress, 307. 

Adams, Samuel, delegate to Congress, 307. 
anecdote of, 307. 

Addition to the Capitol, address at the laying of the comer stone of the, 
409. 

brief account of the proceedings of the day, in Mr. Webster’s 
handwriting, deposited beneath the corner stone, 416. 
Aix-la-Chapelle, stipulation in regard to slaves in the treaty of, 397. 
Albany, speech delivered to the young men of, 392. 
speech at a dinner, same day, 405. 

41 * 


(485) 



486 


INDEX TO 


America, her contributions to Europe, 292. 

familiarity with republican principles at the commencement of 
the revolution, 38. 

American government, elements of, 292. 

American people, prepared for popular government, 55. 

American Revolution, its purposes, 163. 
effect of, 163. 

commenced in New England, 23. 

Ancestry, respect for, 14. 

Anti-slavery conventions, proceedings of, 387. 

Appointing and removing power, speech on, 215. 

Architecture, improvement in, 104. 

Gothic, 105. 

Asiento, stipulation respecting slaves in the treaty, 397. 


B. 


BABYLON, astronomers of, 147. 

Bacon, Lord, 63. 

Bangor, reception of Mr. Webster at, 221. 
its position, 222. 
its growth, 223. 

Battle of Bunker Hill, reflections on the, 58. 

Berkeley, Bishop, 338. 

Boston, Mechanics Institution of, 98. 

citizens of, present a Vase to Mr. Webster, 228. 
violation of law in, 434. 

Brewster, Elder William, supposed address of, 375. 

Brooks, Governor John, first president of the Bunker Hill Monument 
Association, 65. 

Buffalo, reception of Mr. Webster at, in 1833, 178. 
its trade, 179. 

reply to the mechanics and manufacturers of, 180. 
reception of Mr. Webster at, in 1851, 379. 
speech delivered on the occasion, 379. 

Bunker Hill Battle, address to the survivors of, 47. 

Bunker Hill Monument, laying the corner stone of, 42. 

Mr. Webster’s address, 42. 
completion of the, 280. 

Mr. Webster’s address, 280. 


c. 

CALHOUN, J. C., attack upon Mr. Webster, 272. 
an honest nullifier, 262. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


487 


California, establishment of a local government in, 344. 

its declaration of independence, and discovery of gold in, 344. 
Society of Pilgrims of, 376. 

Capitol, extension of, 409. 

brief account of the proceedings of the day, in Mr. Webster’s 
handwriting, deposited beneath the corner stone, 416. 
foundation of, laid by Washington, 418. 

Charleston, S. C., arrival of Mr. Webster at, 316. 

dinner of the New England Society at, 318. 

Chatham, Lord, his opinion of the first Congress, 70. 

Chief Justice of the United States, a Eoman Catholic, 372. 
Christianity, importance of teaching children the elements of, 305. 
Christian ministry established by Christ, 301. 

work of the, 302. N 

Christian ministry and religious instruction of the young, speech on, in 
the Supreme Court, 296. 

Clergy, eulogium on, 298. 

Colonists, English, character of, 290. 

Columbia, S. C., reception of Mr. Webster at, 322. 

Columbus, portrayed, 43. 

Commerce, extent of power of Congress to regulate, 271. 

between the States, 267. 

Common Schools of New England, 259. 

Compromise Measures, 361. 

Confederation, object of, 382. 

Congress of Delegates at Philadelphia, in 1774, 69. 
sat with closed doors, 76. 

Congress of the United States, has no power over slavery in the States, 
237. 

has power over slavery in the District of Columbia, 237. 
Constitution which was adopted on board the Mayflower, 373. 
Constitution of the United States, characters of its founders, 137. 
meeting in Boston, in favor of adopting, 193. 
peculiarities of, 233. 
founded on compromise, 235. 

not a compact between sovereign States, 157, 166, 167. 
preamble of, 445. 

provision of, in regard to fugitive slaves and apprentices, 397. 
Constitution and the Union, speech for, 341. 

Cotton, influence of its production upon the south and upon slavery, 
351. 

Currency, important question respecting, 265. 

cannot be maintained by the States of uniform value, 268. 
power of Congress to regulate, (extract from Mr. Madison’s mes* 
sage,) 271. 


488 


INDEX TO 


D. 

DANGER from executive patronage, 218. 

Declaration of Independence, committee to prepare, 72. 

Deposits, removal of, 200. 

Dissolution of the Union, evils of, 156. 

Duche, Rev. Mr., anecdote of, 307. 

E. 

EDUCATION, effect of its diffusion, 26, 259. 

Effects of instructions to members of Congress, 365. 

Emigration, a common incident, 17. 

English language, its correct use in the United States, 291. 

English race, its extension, 17. 

Eulogium on General Taylor, 362. 

Europe in the nineteenth century, 46. 

her power annihilated in America, 46. 

Exchange, cause of difference in, 266. 

Expunging resolution, Constitution violated by, 248. 

F. 

FARROW, Mr., his address to Mr. Webster, on behalf of the students 
of South Carolina College, 323. 

Festival of the sons of New Hampshire, 328. 

Fillmore, President, address to, at the laying of the corner stone of the 
addition to the Capitol, 425. 

First commandment of the Decalogue fountain of all revealed truth, 303 
Foot’s Resolution, speech on, 108. 

last remarks on, 125. 

Franklin, Benjamin, 72. 

French Chambers, a member rejected from, for giving pledges to con 
stituents, 366. 

French and Indians, New Hampshire settlements attacked by, 332. 
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, 386. 

more favorable to the fugitive than the law of 1793, 400. 
the two objects of, 399. 

Fugitives from labor, to be surrendered, 384. 

G. 


GEORGIA, her patriotism, 326. 

the abundance of her resources, 326. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


489 


Girard, Stephen, suit of his heirs, 296. 

Girard College, provision of Girard’s will respecting no Sabbath in, 305. 

Government, its nature and constitution, 24. 
difficulty of establishing, 55. 
its duty respecting currency, 279. 
its permanency, 56, 138. 

Government, American, its origin and character, 24. 
its protection to persons and property, 139. 

Granite, its use in architecture, 106. 

Greece, revolution in, 32. 

our obligations to, 33. 

has accomplished much, 38. 

propriety of the appointment of agents to, 39. 

Greeks, sympathy for, 39. 


H. 

HAMILTON, Alexander, his services, 134. 

Hamilton, General James, at a meeting of the Charleston New England 
Society offered a sentiment to the memory of Robert Y. 
Hayne, 321. 

Hancock, John, recommends association for protecting navigation, 191. 
presides over Congress, 79. 

signature to the Declaration of Independence, 442. 

Harrington, quoted, 25. 

Harvard College, 22. 

objects of its foundation, 27. 

Haven, Messrs. John and others, letter to, 426. 

Hayne, Kobert Y., eulogium on, 322. 

Holmes, Oliver W., quoted, 421. 

Hume, his remarks on the administration of justice, 141. 


I. 

IMMORTALITY, yearning of the soul for, 305. 
Inauguration of Washington, 136. 

Indiana, its growth, 257. 

internal improvement of, 257. 

Indians and French, dangers from, 332. 

Internal improvements, 243. 
in New England, 23. 
influence of, 223. 
principles of, 261. 


490 


INDEX TO 


Internal improvements, principles to bo regarded in appropriations for, 
261. 

general advantages of, 114. . 

necessity for appropriations, 242. 

J. 

JACKSON, General, his course relative to nullification, 184. 

Jefferson, Thomas, birth and education of, 71. 

elected a member of the First Congress, 71. 
governor of Virginia, 86. 

Notes on Virginia, 86. 
minister abroad, 86. 
secretary of State, 87. 

Vice President, 87. 

President, 88. 

Manual, 87. 
his old age, 88. 

founds University of Virginia, 88. 

Judiciary of the United States, its functions, 141. 

Justice, the great interest of man on earth, 314. 

K. 

KINNEY, Messrs. William and others, of Staunton, Va., letter to, 429. 

L. 

LAFAYETTE, at Bunker Hill, 52. 

Lands, public, proceeds of to be devoted to the colonization of the free 
blacks, 359. 

Lee, Richard Henry, resolution of the 7th of June, 1776, 72. 

Liberty, love of religious, 16. 

Literature, its influence, 29. 

advantages of a love for, 90. 

Livingston, Chancellor, his services, 72. 

Localisms, cannot destroy our system of government, 378. 

Louisville Canal, remarks on the purchase of, 240. 

Luther’s Reformation, 288. 


M. 


MADISON. Indiana, reception at, 256. 
Madison, James, 133. 

his knowledge of the Constitution, 255. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


491 


Madison Papers, remarks on, 254. 

Martial airs of England, 204. 

Massachusetts, natural productions of, 327. 

protests against the Expunging Resolution, 246. 
Mathematics, its objects, 101. 

Mayflower, compact signed in her cabin, 19. 

constitution which was adopted on board the, 373. 
Mechanics’ Institution of Boston, lecture before, 98. 

Monroe, James, quotation from message respecting Greece, 35. 
Motion, its universality, 99. 


N. 

NATIONAL Bank, remarks on presenting a petition of New York 
merchants for a, 251. 

Naval architecture, improvement in, 104. 

Navy, United States, Mr. Webster’s early support and defence of, 277. 
New England, first settlement of, 13, 16. 

American revolution commenced in, 23. 
common schools of, 26. 
compared to a ship, 374. 

youths of all denominations educated at colleges of, 306. 

New Hampshire, festival of the sons of, 328. 

Newton, Sir Isaac, 63. 

New York, public dinner at, 129. 

remarks on presenting a petition from the merchants of, 251. 
New York Committee, letter to, on the character of Washington, 432. 
Nullification, practical operations of, 163. 
consequences of its success, 165. 

o. 

OFFICE is sought for with avidity, 218, 

Orphans, education of, in Girard College, 296. 

Otis, James, his speech on writs of assistance, 69. 

P. 

PAINE, Robert Treat, delegate to Congress, 69, 84. 

Parliament, power of, over the colonies, 74. 

not named in the Declaration of Independence, 340, 

Parties, origin of, 116. 
violence of, 117. 
existence and influence of, 217. 

Party spirit, Washington’s exhortation against, 153. 


492 


INDEX TO 


People, right of the, to a free discussion, 209. 

Pilgrim Fathers, 15, 16. 

Pilgrim festival in New York, in 1850, 370. 

speech of Mr. Webster at, 370. 

Pledges of candidates for office, 367. 

Political power, importance of defining its extent, 226. 

Power of appointing necessarily implies power of removing, 221. 
Prescott, William, 48, 52. 

President, answers of Congress to the, 36. 

Presidential Protest, speech on, 196. 

Preston, Hon. W. C., president of South Carolina College, 322. 
Protection of American labor, 181. 

Protest against the Expunging Resolution, 245. 

Putnam, General, 48. 


R. 

RAILROAD, first in America, 46. 

Raleigh, Sir W., referred to, 288. 

Recention of Mr. Webster at Buffalo, N. Y., in 1833, 178. 
at Pittsburg, Pa., 182. 
at Bangor, Me., 221. 
at Madison, Ind., 256. 
at Charleston, S. C., 316. 
at Columbia, S. C., 322. 
at Savannah, Ga., 324. 
at Buffalo, N. Y., in 1851, 379. 

Religion, a communication and a tie between man and his Maker, 373. 
the only solid basis of morals, 302. 

Removal from office, reasons ought to be stated to the Senate, 221. 

Representative government, a new experiment, 149. 

Reply to Mr. Calhoun, 272. 

Revere, Colonel, his character, 193. 

Revolution, defined, 163. 

Revolution, American, its causes, 21. 

commenced in New England, 23. 
commemorated by Bunker Hill Monument, 44. 
survivors of, addressed, 47. 
character of the State papers of, 51. 
peculiar principles of, 287. 

Revolution in Greece, 32. 

Revolutionary officers, speech on the bill for the relief pf, 94. 
defence of, 95. 
support of the measure, 96. 


SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


493 


Rivers of the United States, character of, 242. 
Rome, liberty of, 414. 


s. 

SAVANNAH, Ga., reception at, 324. 

St. Asaph, Bishop of, 411. 

Salem, magnanimity of its citizens, 50. 

Schools of New England, 26. 

Secession of individual States, an absurdity, 408. 
impossibility of a peaceable, 357. 
proposition for, 434. 

Senate of the United States, a body of equals, 112. 

Slavery, recognized by the Constitution, 384. 

in the District of Columbia, remarks on, 236. 
mode of extinguishing, 359. 
petitions against, are not factious, 240. 
unanimous opinion of the north respecting, 237. 

Smith, Hon. Truman, speech of, 364. 

South Carolina College, address of the students of, 323. 

Mr. Webster’s reply to, 323. 

Southern tour, introductory note, 316. 

Spectators at the battle of Bunker Hill, more numerous than both 
armies, 58. 

Stafil, Madame de, remarks of, 334. 

Stark, General John, 48. 

reminiscences respecting, 332. 

State interposition, destructive of the powers of Congress, 174. 

Story, Mr. Justice, eulogium on, by Mr. Webster, 311. 
obligation of English lawyers to, 313. 
universal sentiment of grief for, 313. 


T. 


TARIFF, how passed, 197. 

Mr. Webster’s course in relation to, 278. 

Taylor, General Zachary, notice of his death, 361. 

eulogium on, 362. 

Tenets, defined, 308. 

Toleration, justice of religious, 17. 

Tribute to the memory of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, delivered in 
the Greek House of Representatives, 32. 

42 


494 


INDEX TO SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 


U. 

UNION of the States, importance of, 154. 

one of the objects in the formation of the Constitution, 225. 
adhesion to, 325. 
dangers to, 183, 227. 
necessity of, 289. 

United States, peaceful policy of, 37. 
their rapid growth, 46. 
principles established by, 143. 
condition at the close of the war of 1812, 223. 
consequence of the proximity of the, to Europe, 337. 
the safety of the government of, 339. 
not exposed to danger from without, 234. 


Y. 

VASE, presentation of, to Mr. Webster, 228. 


w. 

WAR of 1812, Mr. Webster’s defence of his course in, 274. 
Warren, General, 52. 

Washington, George, 53. 

resolutions of John Adams respecting, 81. 
speech on his character, 145. 

the embodiment of the idea of a patriot President, 402. 
laid the foundation of the first Capitol, 422. 

Washington City, its favorable situation, 422. 

Webster, Daniel, in favor of protecting American labor, 187. 

president of the Bunker Hill Monument Association, 44. 
Wesley, John, anecdote of, 299. 

Western States, interested in internal improvements, 195. 


Y. 


YOUNG men, appeal to, 409. 


INDEX 


TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Abbreviations used in the references. 
Article, Art. — Section, sec. — Clause, cl. — Page, p. 


A. 

ACCOUNTS, public, to be published. Art. I., sec. 9, cl. 7, p. 451. 
Adjournment of Congress, by whom. Art. II., sec. 3, p. 455. 

of each house. Art. I., sec. 5, cl. 4, p. 447. 

Admiralty, jurisdiction. See Judicial Power. 

Admission of new States into the Union. Art. IV., sec. 3, cl. 1, p. 457. 
Ambassadors, appointment of. Art. II., sec. 2, cl. 2, p. 454. 
receiving of. Art. II., sec. 3, p. 455. 
protection and rights of. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 1, p. 455. 
suits by and against. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 2, p. 456. 

Amendments of Constitution, how made. Art. V., p. 457. 

Appellate jurisdiction. See Judicial Power. 

Appointments to office by President and Senate. Art. II., sec. 2, cl. 2, 
p. 454. 

in case of vacancies. Art. II., sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 454. 
Apportionment of representatives and direct taxes. Art. I., sec. 2, cl. 3, 
p. 445. 

Appropriations of money. Art. I., sec. 9, cl. 7, p. 451. 

Arms, right to bear. Amend. Art. II., p. 460. 

Army, power to raise and support. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 12, p. 450. 

Arrest of members of Congress. Art. I., sec. 6, cl. 1, p. 448. 

Arts and science, promotion of. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 8, p. 450. 

(495) 




496 


INDEX TO THE 


Attainder, prohibition of bills of, by Congress. Art. I., sec. 9, cl. 3, 
p. 451. 

effect of, in treason. Art. III., sec. 3, cl. 2, p. 456. 

Authors, copyright of. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 8, p. 450. 

B. 


BAIL, excessive, prohibition of. Amend. Art. VIII., p. 461. 
Bankruptcy, power of Congress over. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 4, p. 450. 

Bills of attainder, prohibition of. Art. I., sec. 10, cl. 1, p. 452. 

Bills of credit, prohibition of. Art. I., sec. 10, cl. 1, p. 452. 

Borrow money, power of Congress to. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 2, p. 449. 
Bribery, impeachment for. Art. II., sec. 4, p. 455. 

c. 

CAPITATION tax, power to lay. Art. I., sec. 9, cl. 4, p. 451. 

Captures, regulation of. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 11, p. 450. 

Cases, what, are within the judicial power. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 1, 
p. 456. 

Census, when to be taken. Art. I., sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 446. 

Cessions, for seat of government, and for forts, arsenals, &c. Art. I., 
sec. 8, cl. 17, p. 450. 

Citizen of the United States. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 4, p. 453. 

Citizens of each State, entitled to privileges in the several States. 
Art. IV., sec. 2, cl. 1, p. 456. 

Coinage, power of Congress over. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 5, p. 450. 
counterfeiting. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 6, p. 450. 
prohibition upon the States. Art. I., sec. 10, cl. 1, p. 452. 
Commerce, power of Congress to regulate. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 3, p. 449. 
no preference shall be given to one State over another. Art. I., 
sec. 9, cl. 6, p. 451. 

Common defence, to provide for the. Preamble, p. 445. 

Common law, suits at. Amend. Art. VII., p. 461. 

Compensation for property taken for public uses. Amend. Art. V., 
p. 461. 

Congress of the United States, of what it does consist. Art. I., sec. 1, 
p. 445. 

shall assemble once a year. Art. I., sec. 4, cl. 2, p. 447. 
legislative powers, vested in. Art. I., sec. 1, p. 445. 
membership, each house its own judge. Art. I., sec. 5, cl. 1, 
p. 447. 

quorum in each house. Art. I., sec. 5, cl. 1, p. 447. 
may compel attendance of absent members. Art. I., sec. 5, cl. 1, 
p. 447. 


CONSTITUTION t)F THE UNITED STATES. 


497 


Congress, adjournment. Art. I, sec. 5, cl. 4, p. 448. 

each house determines its own rules. Art. I., sec. 5, cl. 2, p. 448. 
each house shall keep a journal. Art. L, sec. 5, cl. 3, p. 448. 
time of adjournment limited. Art. I, see. 5, cl. 4, p. 448. 
compensation for services, and privileges. Art. I., sec, 6, cl. 1, 
p. 448. 

disqualifications in certain cases. Art. I., sec. 6, cl. 2, p. 448. 
house to originate all revenue bills. Art. I, sec. 7, cl. 1, p. 448. 
bills, after passing both houses, presented to the President. Art. 
I., sec. 7, cl. 2, p. 448. 

orders, resolutions, &c., presented the same as bills. Art. I., sec. 
7, cl. 3, p. 449. 

if he approve, he signs ; if not, he returns with his objections. Art. 

I., sec. 7, els. 2 and 3, p. 449. 
powers of. Art. I., sec. 8, 18 els., pp. 449, 450, 451. 

Constitution of the United States, purposes of. Preamble, p. 445. 
Constitution, laws, and treaties shall be the supreme law of the land. 
Art. VI., cl. 2, p. 458. 

Constitution, oath to support, by whom taken. Art. VI., cl. 3, p. 458. 
ordained and established by the people, and not by the States. 
Preamble, p. 445. 

the President, before entering on the execution of his office, takes 
% the official oath. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 7, p. 454. 

Crimes, how prosecuted and tried. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 456. 

D. 

DEATH or removal from office of the President, the same shall de¬ 
volve upon the Vice President. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 5, p. 453. 
Debts, all contracted before the adoption of the Constitution, valid. 
Art. VI., cl. 1, p 458. 

District of Columbia, Congress to exercise exclusive legislation, &c.; 

also, in forts, magazines, dock yards, &c. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 17, 
p. 450. 

Domestic tranquillity, to insure. Preamble, p. 445. 


E. 

EACH State to give credit to the Public Acts, &c., of every other State. 
Art. IV., sec. 1, p. 456. 

Election of President and Vice President. Amend. Art. XII., p. 462, 
Electors to vote on same day. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 3, p. 453. 

Electors of President and Vice President, number, and how appointed. 
Art. II-, sec. 1 , cl. 2, p. 452. 


498 


INDEX TO THE 


Excessive bail, or fines and cruel punishments, prohibited. Amend. Art. 
Yin., P . 46i. 

Export duty, no tax or export duty shall be laid. Art. I., sec. 9, cl. 5. 
p. 451. 

Ex post facto law, no State shall pass any. Art. I., sec. 10, cl. 1, p.452. 


F. 

FREEDOM of speech and of the press. Amend. Art. I., p. 460. 
Fugitives from justice to be delivered up. Art. IV., sec. 2, cl. 2, p. 456. 
Fugitive slaves. Art. IV., sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 457. 

G. 

GRAND JURY, in crimes. Amend. Art. V., p. 461. 


H. 

HABEAS CORPUS, shall not be suspended, unless, &c. Art. I., sec. 
9, cl. 2, p. 451. 

House of Representatives, how and by whom chosen. Art. I., sec. 2, 
cl. 1, p. 445. 

choose their officers, and have the sole power of impeachment. 
Art. I., sec. 2, cl. 5, p. 446. 


I. 


IMPEACHMENT, power of, in House of Representatives. Art. I., 
sec. 2, cl. 5, p. 446. 

trial of, in Senate. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 6, p. 447. 
when President is tried. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 6, p. 447. 
who are liable to. Art. II., sec. 4, p. 455. 
judgment in cases of, limited. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 7, p. 447. 
Indictment, persons convicted on impeachment, subject to. Art. I., sec. 
3, cl. 7, p. 447. 

Inventors may secure patents. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 8, p. 450. 

J. 

JUDGES of every State bound by the Constitution, laws, and treaties. 
Art. VI., cl. 2, p. 458. 
appointment of. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 2. 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


499 


Judges, tenure of office. Art. III., sec. 1, cl. 1. 

compensation of. Art. Ill, sec. 1, cl. 1. 

Judicial power of the United States, how vested. Art. III., sec. 1, 
p. 455. 

to what cases it extends. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 1, p. 455. See 
Amendment. Art. XI., p. 462. 
original jurisdiction of Supreme Court. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 2. 
p. 456. 

appellate jurisdiction. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 2, p. 456. 
trial by jury, except, &c. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 456. 
shall not be construed to extend to prosecutions against a State 
by a citizen of another State, or by foreigners. Amend. Art. 

XI. , p. 462. 

Justice, to establish. Preamble, p. 445. 

L. 

LEGISLATIVE powers, in whom vested. Art. I., sec. 1 , p. 445. 
Liberty, to secure the blessings of. Preamble, p. 445. 

M. 

MANNER of choosing President and Vice President. Amend. Art. 

XII. , cl. 1, p. 462. 

Migration, or importation of certain persons. Art. I., sec. 9, cl. 1, p. 451. 
Mode of passing laws. Art. I., sec. 7, cl. 2, p. 448. 

Money, none to be drawn from the treasury but by law. Art. I., sec. 9, 
cl. 7, p. 451. 

statement and account of all public money shall be published. 
Art. I., sec. 9, cl. 7, p. 451. 

Militia, the right to keep and bear arms. Amend. Art. II., p. 460. 
power of Congress over. Art. I., sec. 8, els. 15 and 16, p. 450. 
States to officer and train. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 16, p. 450. 


N. 

NATURALIZATION. Art. I, sec. 8, cl. 4, p. 449. 

Navy, power to provide and maintain a. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 13, p. 450. 
Nobility, no title of, to be granted. Art. 1., sec. 9, cl. 8, p. 451. 

o. 


OATH of President, before he enters on the execution of his office. 
Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 7, p. 454. 


500 


INDEX TO THE 


Oath, to support the Constitution, by whom taken. Art. VI., cl. 3, 
p. 458. 

no warrants shall issue, but upon. Amend. Art. IV., p. 460. 

Officers of the United States cannot receive presents without consent of 
Congress. Art. I., sec. 9, cl. 8, p. 451. 

P. 

PEOPLE of the United States do ordain and establish this Constitu¬ 
tion. Preamble, p. 445. 

Persons held to service or labor in one State, having escaped into an¬ 
other, to be delivered up. Art. IV., sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 457. 

indicted for crime shall not be compelled to be a witness against 
themselves. Amend. Art. V., p. 461. 

Petition, right of. Amend. Art. I., p. 460. 

Power of Congress over territory and other property. Art. IV., sec. 3, 
cl. 2, p. 457. 

Power to try impeachments. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 6, p. 447. 

Powers not delegated to the United States are reserved to the States or 
people. Amend. Art. X., p. 462. 

President of the Senate, his right to vote. Art. I., sec. 4, cl. 4, p. 447. 

President of the Senate pro tempore, and other officers, how chosen. 
Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 5, p. 447. 

President and Vice President, their terms of office. Art. II., sec. 1 , cl. 1, 
p. 452. 

President, to be commander in chief; he may require opinions of execu¬ 
tive departments, and may pardon. Art. II., sec. 2, cl. 1, 
p. 451. 

he shall have power, with advice and consent of Senate, to 
make treaties, to nominate ambassadors, ministers, consuls, 
judges, &c. Art. II., sec. 2, cl. 2, p. 454. 

shall' have power to fill vacancies during the recess. Art. II., 
sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 454. 

shall communicate to Congress information of the state of the 
Union; he may convene and adjourn Congress, in case, &c.; 
shall receive ambassadors, &c.; take care that the laws be prop¬ 
erly executed, and shall commission all officers of the United 
States. Art. II., sec. 3, p. 454. * 

Private property not to be taken for public use without compensation. 
Amend. Art. V., p. 461. 

Provisions concerning prosecutions, trials, and punishments. Amend. 
Art. V., p. 461. 

Purposes for which the Constitution was ordained and established. Pre¬ 
amble, p. 445. 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


501 


Q. 

QUALIFICATIONS of a representative. Art. I., sec. 2, cl. 2, p. 445. 
of a senator. Art. I, sec. 3, cl. 3, p. 446. 
of President. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 4, p. 453. 
of Vice President. Amend. Art. XII., cl. 3, p. 463. 

Quorum, a majority of each house shall constitute a. Art. I., sec. 5, 
cl. 1, p. 447. 

in the house for the election of President. Amend. Art. XII., 
cl. 1, p. 462. 


R. 

REPRESENTATIVES and direct taxes, how apportioned. Art. I., 
sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 445. 

Republican form of government guarantied to every State. Art. IV., 
s*c. 4, p. 457. 

Religious test, none required. Art. VI., cl. 3, p. 458. 

Ratification of the Constitution. Art. VII., p. 458. 

Religious establishment prohibited. Amend. Art. I, p. 460. 

Revenue bills to originate in the House. Art. I., sec. 7, cl. 1, p. 448. 

Right of petition. Amend. Art. I., p. 460. 

Right of search and seizure regulated. Amend. Art. IV., p. 460. 

Right of trial by jury secured. Amend. Art. VII., p. 461. 

Rule of construction of certain rights. Amend. Art. IX., p. 461. 

s. 

SENATE, the, have sole power to try impeachments. Art. I., sec. 3, 
cl. 6, p. 447. 

to choose a president in the absence of the Vice President. 
Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 5, p. 447. 

Senators, how and by whom chosen. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 1, p. 446. 

classified. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 2, p. 446. 

how temporary vacancies may be filled. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 2, 
£. 446. 

Soldiers not to be quartered in any house, unless, &c. Amend. Art. 
III., p. 460. 

State, each to be protected against invasion. Art. IV., sec. 4, p. 457. 

States, new, admitted into the Union. Art. IV., sec. 3, cl. 1, p. 457. 

States prohibited from the exercise of certain powers. Art. I., sec. 10, 
els. 1, 2, and 3, p. 452. 

Supremacy of the Constitution, laws, and treaties. Art. VI., cl. 2, p. 458. 


502 


INDEX TO THE 


T. 


TAXES, power of Congress to lay. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 1, p. 449. 
how apportioned. Art. I., sec. 9, cl. 4, p. 451. 

Times, &c., of holding elections, how prescribed. Art. I., sec. 4, cl. 1, 
p. 447. 

Treason, definition of, and proof of. Art. III., sec. 3, cl. 1, p. 456. 
punishment of. Art. III., sec. 3, cl. 2, p. 456. 

Treasury, all duties and imposts laid by any State shall be for the use 
of the treasury of the United States. Art. I., sec. 10, cl. 2, 
p. 452. 

no money shall be drawn from the, but by law. Art. I., sec. 9, 
cl. 7, p. 451. 

Treaty-making power. Art. II., sec. 2, cl. 2, p. 454. 


0 

u. 

UNION, to form a more perfect. Preamble, p. 445. 


Y. 

VACANCIES in the House, how filled. Art. I., sec. 2, cl. 4, p. 446. 
in the Senate, how filled. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 2, p. 446. 
when President may fill. Art. II., sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 454, 
in office of President and Vice President. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 5, 
p. 453. 

Veto or negative, President’s. Art. I., sec. 7, cl. 2, p. 448. 

Vice President, how chosen. Amend. Art. XII., cl. 2, p. 463. 
president of the Senate. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 4, p. 447. 
duration of office. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 1, p. 452. 
qualifications of. Amend. Art. XII., cl. 3, p. 463. 
in case of removal of the President from office, the same shall 
devolve on the. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 5, p. 463. , 


w. 

WELEAKE, general, to promote the. Preamble, p. 445. 

Witness against himself, no person compelled to be a. Amend. Art. V. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


503 


Y. 

YEAS and nays, to be entered on the journal. Art. I., sec. 5, cl. 3, 
p. 448. 

to be taken on all bills returned by the President. Art. I., sec. 7, 
cl. 2, p. 449. 


1 


INDEX 


TO WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 


American, on the name of, 468. 

Commerce, general policy in regard to, 479. 

Constitution, federal, to be maintained, 467. 

Farewell address of President Washington, 465. 

Foreign influence to be particularly guarded against, 478. 

Foreign nations, policy in regard to, 479. 

Government, to be respected and obeyed, 471. 
baneful effects of party spirit in, 473. 

Justice and good faith, to be the basis of proceedings with all nations, 
476. 

Laws, should be complied with, 471. 

Mississippi River, 471. 

Party spirit, baneful effects of, 473. 

Public credit of the United States, method,of preserving, 476. 

Public debt, 476. 

Union of the States, liable to be assailed, 467. 
advantages from, 469. 

in danger from geographical discriminations, 470. 


(504) 

































Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: May 2010 

PreservationTechnologies 

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